


Time and Space with My Best Friend

by StrikeMoonstone9387



Series: The Belle of Gallifrey, The Converging Wave and The Herald of Dreams [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Best Friends, Blind Character, Blind Ianto, Canon Rewrite, Chameleon Arch (Doctor Who), Childhood Friends, F/M, Female Ianto Jones (Siani Jones), Friends to Lovers, Season/Series 01, Sentient TARDIS, Slow Burn, Telekinesis, Time Travel, original child character - Freeform, space travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:01:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 33,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22587574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrikeMoonstone9387/pseuds/StrikeMoonstone9387
Summary: When the Doctor and Rose answer a plea for help in Utah, 2012, they meet Siani Jones, a blind Archivist in Henry van Statten’s museum. However, there is more to this young woman than meets the eye.Who is she? What is it about this woman that seems to draw the Doctor in and remind him of his best friend, the Belle? And who is her son that has all the traits of an alien race that had been destroyed in the Time War?
Relationships: The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Ianto Jones, The Doctor/ Female Ianto Jones, The Doctor/ Siani Jones
Series: The Belle of Gallifrey, The Converging Wave and The Herald of Dreams [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625251
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue – The Mysterious and Strange Girl

**Prologue – The Mysterious and Strange Girl**

_ Cardiff, Wales, Earth _

_ August 19, 2002 _

Police Constable Andy Davidson fought a yawn and glanced at the clock on his dashboard, 2 A.M. He took a gulp of his now cold coffee and made a note to stop at the nearest Starbucks for a refill; he still had another 2 hours left on his patrol then another hour after that at the station to fill out his paperwork.

Truthfully, he was quite glad that it was a quiet night. There were no strange things happening, no sign of the mysterious  _ Torchwood _ with the flashy Captain that swoop in on some of their cases and just take over without so much as a ‘by your leave’, nothing out of the ordinary.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he slammed the breaks of his patrol car seconds before he hit a girl crossing the road. He swore colorfully in Welsh, absently grateful his mother wasn’t anywhere nearby or she would’ve washed his mouth with lye soap, regardless of how old he was.

He got out of the car and ran to the girl, seeing her looking about in a daze. He noticed that she was dressed in what seemed to be a two-piece lehenga, or at least it  _ was _ at one point. Now it was more rags than an actual dress, dirty and filled with tears. Her hair was long and may have been loosely curled, but was tangled and filled with leaves and twigs.

The girl herself, for she could not have been any older than 15 or 16, had cuts and bruises covering almost every visible part of her skin, as well as dirt and grime.

Despite the dirt and grime, the leaves and twigs, he could see that she was quite beautiful. She also seemed to have an innocent air about her, expressed by her large eyes.

“Miss, what happened?” He asked her gently, bending so that he was eye-level with her tiny height of 4’9”.

She didn’t reply, only looked at him with large, misted sapphire blue eyes. She cocked her head to the side and frowned in confusion.

_ “Miss, what happened?” _ He repeated the question, this time going on a limb and speaking Welsh.

He prayed she understood him, since he didn’t know any other languages aside from English and Welsh, with a little bit of Gaelic.

_ “I-I don’t… remember.” _ The girl replied slowly and haltingly after a few seconds.

At her own words and as if realizing that being unable to remember was not a good thing, tears filled her eyes and fell down her cheeks in mirrored rivers of silver. She absently twiddled with the necklace around her neck, a locket watch pendant that hung on a fine, white gold chain* and rested against her breast. The locket was quite pretty, covered with strange swirling patterns that gave it a rather unique look.

_ “It’s okay, Miss.” _ Andy said hurriedly, making sure to keep his voice pitched in a reassuring tone.  _ “Do you remember your name?” _

_ “Um… Siani. Yes, Siani Gwawr Jones.”  _ The girl, Siani, replied with a frown, as though she hadn’t been sure for a moment. She looked up at him and smiled sweetly.  _ “Charmed to meet you.” _

_ “Charmed to meet you as well, Miss. Siani Jones. My name is Andy Davidson.” _ Andy responded, unable to help the smile that crossed his face at the innocence that seemed to radiate from the girl. _ “Would you be agreeable to coming with me to a hospital?” _ Speaking with a gentle tone, he gestured to his patrol car.

_ “What’s a ‘hospital’?”  _ Siani asked, cocking her head to the side and looking up at him curiously.

_ “It is a place of healing.” _ Andy replied, unable to keep a bemused smile off his face though a sharp pang of sorrow shot through his heart.

‘What could have happened to this girl that caused her to forget what a  _ hospital _ was?’ He wondered.

He reached out, gently taking her smaller hand in his larger one and leading her to the passenger side of his car. He had a feeling that she couldn’t see, judging by the way her eyes never seemed to focus and she only moved  _ after _ he spoke.

_ “I need healing?” _ Siani asked curiously, letting him help her into the passenger seat.

He quickly ran around the front of the car and slid into the driver side before looking at her in confusion once again. She was covered in cuts and bruises, or at least that’s what it  _ looked _ like, so why was she asking if she needed healing?

_ “That is what we are going to try and find out.” _ Andy replied as he began driving down the road towards the nearest hospital.

The entire time he drove, he kept talking with Siani in Welsh since she seemed unable to speak or understand English, finding out that the first memory she had was of him nearly running her over. She remembered nothing other than her name, certain it was Siani Gwawr Jones, and her age, 15. Other than those two pieces of knowledge, she knew nothing else – not who her parents were, not where she lived, not her family, nothing. 

The whole time they spoke, two questions plagued Andy’s mind:

Who was this strange girl that seemed to radiate an aura of innocence and mystery? What had happened to her that was so traumatic, it caused her to forget  _ everything _ ?

_ Links: _

_ *Siani locket watch - _ [ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/420805158906236341/_](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/420805158906236341/)


	2. Dalek

_Notes: Siani looks like Dove Cameron with sapphire blue eyes._

**Dalek**

_10 years later..._

_October, 2012_

_Utah, USA, Earth_

Dr. Siani Gwawr Jones walked down the hallways of Henry van Statten’s museum with the man’s aides, behind Diana Goddard. Around them, four of van Statten’s armed security personnel lined the hall as their escort while van Statten himself walked in front of the group at a fast pace.

The young, brilliant Welshwoman had hip-length golden blonde hair that typically came up to her waist in loose curls with large, unseeing sapphire blue doe-eyes framed by long thick eyelashes and gently rounded eyebrows set in a dainty heart-shaped face. She had flawless, milky snow-white skin, high cheekbones with a permanent light pink tint of blush, a button nose and cupid bow lips. Standing at 5’1 and with an hourglass figure that was toned, graceful and lethal from a decade of learning how to defend herself despite being blind, she walked with a dancer’s grace.

Siani was dressed in a mint green sari decorated with metallic mint green embroidery and a short metallic light silver, short sleeved blouse*. The drape was pleated and pinned on her left shoulder, allowing her to use her arms freely as she worked while on each wrist, a small set of mint green bangles* tinkled musically with each step she took and a pair of mint green diamond flower earring studs* in her ears while two pairs of small white diamond studs glimmered directly above them in her second and third piercings. She had her golden curls tied into a simple yet elegant twisted bun* at the back of her head with a few shorter strands framing her face, keeping the long locks out of her way while she worked. Her face, clear of any makeup except a light dusting of powder and a line of kohl lining her waterline, was adorned with a small mint green bindi* on her forehead, directly between her arched eyebrows. On her tiny feet were a pair of mint green 4” heeled strappy sandals*.

Around her neck, tucked into her blouse and hidden from sight aside from the fine, white gold chain, was the locket watch she had been found with as a teenager in the streets of Cardiff.

“On behalf of all of us, I wanna wish you a very happy birthday, sir.” The newest aide, Polkowski, said to van Statten, walking beside the man and successfully managing to keep up with the fast-paced stride. “And the President called to convey his personal best wishes-”

“The President is 10 points down.” Van Statten interrupted. “I want him replaced.”

“I don't think that's very wise, sir.” Polkowski said, glancing at the man before looking back at his PDA.

Siani winced imperceptibly at the aide’s words, tightening her hold on her cane.

“Thank you so much for your opinion, you’re fired.” van Statten said without breaking his stride or even _looking_ at the aide. “Get rid of him.” He ordered over his shoulder to the guards.

“What?!” Polkowski exclaimed as a guard grabbed his arm and began hauling him away.

Knowing what was going to happen without needing to be prompt, Siani pressed herself against the wall, as did everyone else in the corridor except for van Statten, while the gentleman was forcibly removed.

“Wipe his memory, put him on the road someplace.” van Statten continued without breaking his stride or thinking about the livelihood he was destroying. “Memphis, Minneapolis. Somewhere beginning with ‘M’.” Siani held back a sigh as Diana quickly took Polkowski’s place beside van Statten. “So, the next President, what do you think? Republican or Democrat?”

“Democrat, sir.” Diana replied unflinchingly, staring directly ahead. However, there was an undercurrent of uncertainty in her voice and a tenseness in her shoulders that belied her seemingly calm façade.

“For what reason?” van Statten asked.

Siani’s gut twisted for the tall blonde. With van Statten, it wasn’t a simple matter of being fired – the man would erase your memories, take your livelihood and destroy your family without losing a wink of sleep. Polkowski, a rather nice man with strong family values who had started only a few days earlier, would likely wake up in two days in a place beginning with ‘M’ as an addict or a junkie with no memory of who he was, who his husband was or who their two sweet children were. The family meanwhile would spend the next several months searching for him before eventually giving up the hope that they would ever see him again, believing that he had abandoned them.

“They’re just so funny, sir?” Diana replied nervously, more of a question than a statement.

Van Statten stopped abruptly and the rest followed suit as the man looked up at the tall blonde with a scrutinizing gaze. To her credit, Diana didn’t show any fear at the gaze, though her heart was racing within the confines of her chest.

“What is your name?” He asked her.

“Goddard, sir.” Diana replied, turning to face him. “Diana Goddard.”

“I like you Diana Goddard.” van Statten said with a smirk, running his gaze over her slim form before resuming the walk. “So where’s the English girl?”

“I’m _Welsh_.” Siani muttered quietly in irritation before quickening her pace to walk alongside van Statten, the group parting to let her pass. “Sir, I bought ten more artifacts at auction.”

“Bring ‘em on. Let me see ‘em!” van Statten ordered, giving her lithe body his customary leering onceover.

“Sir, with respect, there’s something more urgent.” Diana spoke up, drawing the man’s attention away from the tiny Welshwoman on his other side. Siani shot a grateful look in the direction of her voice and she returned it with a small, imperceptible nod even though the younger woman wouldn’t be able to see it. “We arrested two intruders 53 floors down. We don’t know how they got in.”

“I’ll tell you how they got in.” van Statten said. “In-tru-da-window.” He raised his voice slightly, “ _In-tru-da-window_. That was funny!” A wave of painfully forced laughter echoed through the hallways. “Bring ‘em in, let’s see ‘em. And tell Simmons I wanna visit my little pet.” He snapped his fingers. “Get to it!”

Siani separated from the group and went to her office. Selecting the most interesting items from the collection she had recently purchased, she hurried back to van Statten’s office to show him the new ‘toys’ for his museum.

Henry van Statten was a man who had coffers filled with money and used it to satiate his petty greed, expecting every scrap of debris to be bought, scavenged or even stolen and put on display in his museum. However, the man had little interest for any of it, demanding it simply because he could. Siani, on the other hand, had a great love for all the items collected, and a genuine curiosity and drive to _learn_ about what she didn’t know despite her extreme dislike of the man who afforded her the opportunity. It was that drive and passion that enabled her, despite the chaos of her personal life, to gain a double Master’s in Biology and Archival Sciences along with a PhD in Chemistry before she turned 23, one of the youngest people (even with her disability) to ever accomplish such an achievement.

It was these qualifications, along with her mysterious past, that drew van Statten’s scouts to her door in Cardiff, Wales with ‘a job offer of a lifetime’. Initially hesitant, she accepted for the sake of her family, for the benefits the job would offer them, more than out of any desire of her own to work for a man like Henry van Statten.

Entering the extravagant office, she made her way to the side of van Statten’s desk and began explaining the items she had procured, setting her folded cane within reach on the table.

“This had been found during a scavenging dive of the Indian Ocean seabed.” Siani explained to the American, carefully holding up a thin device made of a completely clear plastic-like material. She lightly tapped the screen, causing a soft blue light to appear where her manicured index finger had been before a string of symbols appeared on the right, looking as though it were some kind of content list. “It could be some form of identification method, accessing a population database.”

van Statten took the device from Siani and pressed his finger to the clear plastic. Unlike when Siani pressed it, an angry red glow lit up the screen while another string of symbols appeared along the side. He perused the symbols for a moment before putting the device to the side, the light fading away, with the clear intention of toying with it more closely at a later date.

“Next.” He demanded and Siani hurriedly picked up the last item, an oddly shaped metal device with tubes along one side.

“This is the last one, the most expensive of the collection.” Siani said, holding the device delicately in her small, dainty hands. She was the one that did the monthly expenditure reports and left out the easy $800,000 the device cost, knowing it would be of no interest to the man.

“What does it do?” van Statten demanded, boredom and irritation seeping into his voice as he snatched the device from Siani’s hand; she didn’t need to be able to see to know that he was probably holding it carelessly, like he did with just about everything he owned.

“Based on the tubes and the design,” Siani began as the door opened and Diana entered with a group of security personnel and the two intruders – a young blonde girl who couldn’t be more than a teenager and a tall gentleman who looked to be around mid-40 with almost European-like features. Unfazed by the sound of their entrance, she continued, “I’d assume it’s a type of musical instrument.”

The tall gentleman, with sparkling blue eyes, a slightly large nose and big ears that stuck out from his head, smiled at her briefly before turning his attention to the device. He was dressed in a pair of black trousers, an olive green jumper with a well-worn dark brown leather jacket over top.

His companion, a pretty blonde girl with hazel eyes who looked only a few years younger than Siani was dressed in a pair of well-worn light colored jeans, a white body top with a red and grey hoodie over top. Her hair was pinned away from her face and hanging loosely around her shoulders.

“I really wouldn’t hold it like that.” He said in a Northern accent, nodding towards the careless way van Statten was holding the device.

“Shut it.” Diana ordered, evidently having fully embraced her new position.

“Really though, that’s wrong.” The man insisted, glancing at Diana before turning back to van Statten.

“Is it dangerous?” Siani asked, looking in the direction of his voice with a small frown furrowing her brows. She was worried that she might have been wrong about the device and that it was not a musical instrument like she had believed.

“No, just looks silly.” The man replied, smiling brightly at her.

Siwan gave a sigh of relief at the reply. One of the fears she had regarding their meddling with things they did not know was that one day they were going to meddle with something that could prove disastrous.

The man reached forward, holding his hand out for the device in a classic ‘let me see’ gesture. He froze when the sound of guns cocking filled the room in a syncopated rhythm, the security personnel aiming their weapons at him. He smiled again, this time tightly and aiming it at van Statten who quelled the guards with a silent wave of his hand, casually handing the device over. The man took it carefully, holding the device gently in one hand.

“You were right.” He said, looking at her with a mildly impressed look in his eyes. “It’s a musical instrument. You just have to be…” He gently ran his fingers over the device, making it produce a breathtaking sound. Siani smiled, listening to the music the man was making and looking at the instrument in his hands. The man in turn had his gaze trained on Siani, taking in her amazement and wonder. “…delicate.”

He tore his gaze away from Siani and grinned down at the blonde beside him before glancing around the room.

“Let me see.” van Statten ordered, reaching out and all but yanking it away from the man. He began running his fingers over it. The sound he produced had everyone wincing, the noise almost akin to claws being scratched on a blackboard – harsh and unforgiving.

“I did say delicate.” The man said, slightly more successful than the rest of them at holding back his wince.

“Why are the sounds so different?” Siani asked, her eagerness to learn something new clear on her face.

“It reacts to the smallest fingerprint.” The man explained as van Statten slowed his movements and the sound became more bearable. “It needs precision.” Slowly, it began to sound similar, though not quite, like it had when the intruder had played it. “Very good. Quite the expert.”

“As are you.” Van Statten said, looking at the intruder before carelessly tossing the instrument to the side. The man lost his grin and Siani instinctively reached out for the instrument. “Who exactly are you?”

Sensing everyone’s attention on the two intruders, the male in particular, Siani discreetly flicked her wrist slightly and levitated the instrument into her hands, making it seem as though she had caught it. She really hated the way van Statten carelessly handled everything in his possession. The man was truly arrogant and narcissistic, and it drove Siani crazy at having to put up with him just so she was able to support her family.

“I’m the Doctor.” The man replied, an almost cold expression on his face as he looked at van Statten. Turning her attention back to the intruders, silently placing the instrument back on the table, Siani had to admire the intruder’s ability to sound both stern and unimpressed at the same time. “And who are you?”

“Oh, like you don’t know.” van Statten scoffed. At the Doctor’s blank look and raised eyebrow, he continued, “We’re hidden away with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake.”

“Pretty much sums me up, yeah.” The Doctor said, chuckling lightly.

“Question is, how did you get in?” van Statten asked, walking around his desk and stopping in front of the Doctor and his companion. “53 floors down, with your little cat-burglar accomplice.” He looked towards the blonde, a leer on his face before turning back to the intruder. “Quite a collector yourself, she’s rather pretty.”

“She’s gonna smack you if you keep calling her ‘she’.” The blonde retorted sassily in a Cockney accent.

Siani smirked briefly before quickly masking it.

“She’s English, too!” van Statten exclaimed with a grin. “Hey English,” he called over his shoulder to Siani. “I found you a playmate.”

Siani’s eyebrow twitched, the only outward sign of her irritation at being referred to as English _again_ . Two years of working for the man and he still didn’t understand that she was _Welsh_.

“This is Mr. Henry van Statten.” Siani introduced, all traces of her earlier wonder and amazement gone from her face as a bland smile took its place.

“And who’s he when he’s at home?” The blonde asked looking at Siani, evidently deciding that talking to her was better than talking to the pretentious and arrogant man in front of her.

“Mr. van Statten owns the internet.” Siani explained.

“Don’t be stupid.” The blonde girl scoffed, looking at Siani like she was completely mental. “No one owns the internet.”

“That’s what I thought too.” Siani said sheepishly, not at all blaming the younger blonde for thinking that she was mental.

“And let’s keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?” van Statten said with a smug grin, quite proud of the blonde intruder’s reaction.

“So you’re just about an expert in everything, except the things in your museum.” The Doctor commented with a smirk. “Anything you don’t understand, you lock up.”

Siani had to hand it to the Doctor, he really was quite spot on with his summarization of van Statten’s museum. She had to bite back the urge to snort in amusement, though she couldn’t completely mask the upturned quirk of her lip in a smirk.

“And you claim greater knowledge?” van Statten asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I don’t need to make claims.” The Doctor retorted. “I know how good I am.”

It wasn’t said arrogantly or superiorly, it was just a simple statement of fact. Siani, having witnessed how the Doctor had handled the musical instrument, and also one to listen to her gut instincts, was inclined to believe him.

“And yet, I captured you right next to the Cage.” van Statten pointed out smugly. “What were you doing down there?”

“You tell me.”

“The Cage contains my one living specimen.” van Statten revealed.

Siani shuddered imperceptibly at the mention of the living being down in the bowels of the bunker, deep beneath the Earth. She didn’t know why, but there was something about the metal creature that frightened her to her very core. But every time she peeked into the Cage via the CCTV footage for a listen, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for it, despite her fear, for what it was being put through at the hands of van Statten’s scientists.

Though she only suspected what the poor creature was constantly having to endure based on what she had heard, from the security footage and from the scientists and the guards, it had been enough to ensure Siani’s need to keep her own powers hidden from the man, lest she too become one of his experiments. She would often go down to the Cage when the scientists weren’t present and, while under the supervision of the guards, she would talk to the metal-cased being and sing to it, just try and be there in someway despite her unexplainable fear of it. Even though she didn’t know _exactly_ what the scientists would do, she could hear what the guards would say as well as the creature’s screams, leading her to believe that they were torturing the poor creature. However, even with her powers, she was still powerless to help it, only being able to talk to it whenever she was down there.

“And what’s that?” The Doctor asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

“Like you don’t know.” van Statten scoffed.

“Show me.” The Doctor demanded.

“You wanna see it?” van Statten challenged.

“Blimey, you can smell the testosterone.” The blonde girl commented sassily.

Siani burst out laughing, the peals sounding like a tinkle of bells. Everyone turned to look at her, her colleagues and employer staring in surprise as she had rarely laughed in their presence, especially with such amusement. “Nice one, sassy and witty.” Siani said, her laughter slowing to giggles as she turned in the younger blonde’s direction.

“Thank you.” The younger woman said, smiling brightly at her. “I’m Rose. Rose Tyler.”

“I’m Jones. Siani Jones. Charmed to meet you.” Siani replied with a bright, innocent smile.

Rose and the Doctor smiled back, taken in by the innocence of the young woman’s face and sincerity of her greeting. The Doctor noticed the misted look in her eyes and frowned slightly, getting the feeling that there was something wrong with her sight.

“Dr. Jones here is our resident genius.” Diana said with a look of pride on her face, speaking up for the first time since she had told the Doctor to shut up. The Doctor and Rose turned to her while Siani frantically shook her head at the taller woman from behind them, trying to get her to stop talking. “She earned a Double Master’s in Archival Sciences and Engineering, being granted the opportunity to advance her third Master’s, this one in Chemistry, to a Doctorate without additional schooling. All before she turned 23. And she’s now 25.”

“Seriously?” The Doctor asked, turning back to the now furiously blushing blonde with a very impressed expression on his face.

He knew it was possible to hold degrees in multiple disciplines, but to achieve three vastly different degrees within a short time frame is astounding – made even more so when taking into account that the degrees were Masters and a Doctorate.

“That is impressive.” Rose said in amazement.

“Thank you.” Siani said softly, her cheeks a bright red from the strength of her blush. She had always been proud of her achievements but was incredibly shy at the same time. She never liked boasting about them, only mentioning them when people asked what her salutation was. “I just… really like learning new things. And reading.” She took a breath and looked around, feeling incredibly uncomfortable with everyone’s gazes on her. “Can we change the subject now? Please?”

“Goddard!” van Statten snapped, drawing the woman’s attention to him. “Inform the Cage that we’re heading down.” Diana nodded and tapped her earpiece. “You, English.” He said, turning to Siani who turned to him. “Look after the girl. Go and drink tea or gossip or whatever it is you British do.” Siani smiled tightly at him in response, her irritation only being expressed by her twitching eyebrow as she began gathering up the artifacts she had brought. “And you, Doctor-with-no-name.” He looked at the Doctor while heading towards his private lift. “Come and see my pet!”

The Doctor glanced back at Rose and Siani, both blondes now standing beside each other, and turned to follow van Statten into the lift. As the doors closed, he found his gaze being drawn to Siani, taking note of the mint green sari and silver blouse that seemed to flatter her hourglass figure and the bun that inadvertently drew attention to her neck and back. He shook himself out of his thoughts as they began their descent, unable to help but think that there was something incredibly familiar about her.

Siani reminded him of-. He cut himself off before he could continue that train of thought. _She_ had died, just as all the others had.

Behind him, Diana hid her smile, recognizing that the Doctor was already mesmerized by their resident genius even though their encounter had only lasted a few minutes. Glancing at van Statten, she wondered if the Doctor would be the one who could take Siani away from van Statten’s leering gaze, the only thing that had protected her from him was her connections and her son.

What Siani had been completely oblivious to, at least in the beginning, was that van Statten had also hired her because of her beauty, because he wanted her in his bed. However, she had repeatedly avoided and ignored his overtures, several members of the staff actually helping her avoid the man as well, until he finally got bored of chasing her. He still leered at her on a regular basis, but he no longer tried to get her into his bed, which was a big relief to the younger woman who already had so much responsibility on her dainty shoulders.

Almost everyone on the base was drawn to the tiny Welshwoman, feeling the unexplainable desire to protect the mysterious blind girl who had been through so much in only the past ten years – the only time of her life that she was even aware of. Her amnesia of the first fifteen years of her life was well known around the base, the mystery behind her past being one of the reasons van Statten had hired her, but they were all protective of her because of the way she still seemed so _innocent_ despite everything.

Meanwhile, the blonde Welshwoman in question led Rose to the break room; she didn’t have her cane out, knowing the facility like the back of her hand and only keeping it with her out of habit.

“Have a seat.” Siani said invitingly, gesturing to the comfortable chairs that surrounded a round table in the middle of the rather nicely furnished and equipped room. She placed the artifacts in her arms on the table carefully, making sure that none of them became damaged. “Would you like coffee or tea? Or something cool?”

“Coffee, please.” Rose replied, sitting down and looking around in amazement at the furnishings of the room. “This place is nice.”

“Yes, Mr. van Statten expects only the best.” Siani replied, her tone almost bland as she began the process of making the caffeine brew. “One of the perks of working for him, I suppose.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why do you let him treat you that way?” Rose asked curiously. She had noticed the leering glances the man had shot the smaller woman and it made her shudder. “I mean, he looks at you like you’re a piece of meat!”

Siani sighed and set the timer on the coffee maker before taking a seat across from Rose. She absently pulled her locket watch out from her blouse and began playing with it, not even realizing that she was. “I stay for my sister and for my son.” Siani said softly. “My older sister Rhiannon has cancer, Stage 4 Leukemia, and she’s on a very aggressive chemotherapy routine. Our parents died a few years ago as did Rhia’s husband and her two children.”

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.” Rose said softly, her eyes shining with sympathy for the older girl.

“Thank you.” Siani said with a small smile. “Working for Mr. van Statten affords me the ability to pay for my sister’s medical bills as well as having a full-time live-in nurse/ nanny that looks after her and my son, Carwyn. There isn’t anything in this museum that could help Rhia, but at least I can afford to pay her medical bills without having to dip into our trust funds.” She snorted lightly. “There’s also the small fact that Mr. van Statten doesn’t take very well to those who try to resign, if you get my meaning.”

Rose frowned for a moment in confusion before realizing that if van Statten treated those that were under his employ so rudely, then he most certainly wouldn’t treat those who wished to leave any better. “I-I see.” Rose said, swallowing thickly. Wanting to change the subject, she asked, “How old is your son?”

“He’s 3 months old now.” Siani replied with a soft smile on her face.

“You look amazing for a woman who gave birth three months ago.” Rose commented, gesturing to her hourglass figure that was partially hidden by the table they were both sitting at.

“Oh! No, no, no, Carwyn is adopted.” Siani said, realizing what the younger woman thought.

“Oh, sorry.” Rose said apologetically, looking embarrassed at her assumption with a slight blush on her cheeks.

“That’s okay.” Siani said with a reassuring smile, getting to her feet when the timer on the coffee machine rang. She went about mixing the coffee and pouring it into two cups for them as she continued to speak. “I adopted him when he had been a few days old, in July. I had gone back to Cardiff for vacation and he had been found abandoned on the side of the road by a police officer. The officer that found him is a friend of mine, and coincidentally enough is the same one who had found me ten years ago wandering the streets.” She turned and set a cup gently in front of Rose along with a plate of biscuits before retaking her seat. “Once Carwyn had been cleared medically and time passed with no notice or alert going out for a missing newborn fitting his description, I was allowed to adopt him. That we shared a similar past and he had bonded with me allowed the court to rule in my favor over placing him in care.”

“Why were you wandering the streets?” Rose asked, confused, wrapping her fingers around the hot china tea cup and letting the warmth seep into her hands.

“I don’t know.” Siani replied, shrugging delicately and taking a small sip of her coffee. “The first 15 years of my life are a complete blank. I have complete amnesia and the doctors all unanimously agreed that it was highly unlikely I would ever regain my memories of those years.”

Rose looked at Siani sympathetically, struck by the strength the woman seemed to possess in her tiny body. To lose not just 15 years of your memory, but your entire life until that point was a frightening thought, yet here was this woman who had come out stronger because of it, who didn’t let it hold her back and instead achieved something that very few people _could_ achieve at such a young age. It was inspiring and astounding.

Rose raised the china tea cup to her lips and took a sip of her hot drink, her eyes going wide at the taste.

“Blimey! This is amazing!” She exclaimed, looking across the table at the older blonde who chuckled lightly at her reaction. Rose blushed lightly at her overly enthusiastic display but couldn’t find it in her to apologize for it. “I’m serious! This is amazing.”

“Thank you.” Siani said, her chuckles fading to a genuine smile as a slight blush painted her high cheekbones at the praise. She took a sip of her coffee before looking at Rose. “Um, would you like to see some more artifacts?”

“I’d love to.” Rose said excitedly, beaming at her.

“It’s almost time for the scientists’ coffee breaks, so I can show you once I’ve done the coffee run.” Siani offered, rising to her feet and proceeding to make a fresh pot of her wonderful brew.

“You make… the coffee for everyone?” Rose asked somewhat incredulously. She didn’t understand why someone so brilliant and clever would allow herself to be reduced to being the coffee girl.

“Yeah.” Siani said with a nod, not noticing Rose’s incredulous tone. “Apparently, I’m the only one that can use the coffee machine without it blowing up.” She chuckled lightly. “I don’t really believe them, but honestly, I like looking after them.” She pulled out a large tray and several teacups, setting them neatly on the tray. “They often would get so caught up in their work that they’d forget to eat or drink unless someone made them.”

“I see.” Rose said slowly, nodding.

“You don’t really get it, do you?” Siani asked knowingly, turning to face the blonde with a small smile on her face.

“No, not really.” Rose admitted, shaking her head.

Siani laughed lightly and turned back to filling the cups with coffee. With practiced movements, she quickly filled the cups, washed the ones she and Rose had been using and tidied up the remnants of their snack all while keeping up an idle conversation with the younger girl.

“Do you want me to carry the artifacts while you carry the tray?” Rose offered, seeing that the older blonde’s hands were full with the large tray she was carrying.

“That’d be great, thank you.” Siani said with a smile, setting the tray down and helping Rose carry the artifacts properly.

Once the younger girl had a hold of the items and wasn’t going to drop them, Siani picked up the tray with one hand and unfolded her cane with the other, not wanting to take the chance that she could trip while ladened with the hot beverages. Passing several labs as they walked down the halls, Siani went into each one and handed out the coffee to the scientists and technicians before they finally reached her office.

“Sorry about the mess.” Siani said apologetically, entering her office/ lab and gently putting the now empty tray to the side along with her cane. “I usually keep it very organized, more out of necessity because of my blindness, but today was rather chaotic.”

Rose looked around the room, carefully placing the artifacts on the waist-high table in the middle of the room and wondered what mess the older woman was talking about. The place was neat and tidy, everything in its place and nothing out of order. All the drawers and shelves were neatly labelled in beautiful calligraphy and braille, marking where everything was meant to be. She wondered what the older girl would think of her flat on the Powell Estate, with dishes strewn about in the kitchen and clutter lying around in the sitting area.

“What’s that?” Rose asked, catching sight of a small, curious looking spherical object in the middle of the table. She noticed Siani looking at her questioningly, not knowing what she was referring to. “Sorry, I mean on the table?”

At the clarification, a bright, excited smile crossed Siani’s face. “Watch.” She said with an almost childlike grin, picking the sphere up carefully and setting it in the palm of her hand.

For a single heartbeat, she just held it in her hand before tossing it lightly in the air and stepping back as the sphere fell towards the ground. Rose gasped, her eyes widening in amazement when the sphere hovered above the stone floor instead of hitting it.

“Wow!” Rose exclaimed in amazement.

The two blondes laughed excitedly, tracking the sphere as it hovered around the room, moving back and forth between each girl and staying just out of their reach when they tried to catch it.

For several minutes, the girls’ laughter echoed in the room as they tried to catch the sphere before giving up. Both of them leaned against the table, side by side and watched the artifact hover around them, staying just out of reach.

“I think it’s either some sort of toy or a kind of therapeutic object.” Siani said, her laughter fading into giggles. “But it’s hard to be certain.”

“Well, if it’s up to a vote, I vote for it being a little of both.” Rose said, her hazel eyes sparkling as she smiled brightly. “How long will it hover around for?”

“A few more minutes.” Siani replied. “It doesn’t last for more than five to ten minutes.” She sighed wistfully. “Sometimes, I just imagine what it’s like out there in the Universe, all those Races that have so much knowledge, so much they can impart.” She smiled sheepishly as a light blush filled her cheeks. “I know it sounds daft.”

“Not at all.” Rose said, shaking her head and smiling reassuringly at the older woman. “What would you do, if you had the chance to go out there?”

“Learn, explore.” Siani replied honestly, a wistful look on her face as she played with her locket absently. Rose, seeing the action, noticed that the older girl had been playing with it for the past several minutes and didn’t seem to realize that she was. “See if there’s a safe way to cure my sister’s cancer.”

“You wouldn’t try to recover your missing memories?” Rose asked curiously, knowing that if _she_ had been in the older girl’s position, recovering the missing memories would be what she would want more than anything. “Or cure your blindness?”

“Honestly, no.” Siani replied, shaking her head. “I spent 10 years without my memories and my sight. Frankly, it wouldn’t make a difference to me if I do end up regaining them or even getting my eyesight back. But trying to save my sister’s life, if it was possible, I would do it. I would pay whatever price so long as it’s _my_ price to pay and no one else’s.”

Rose stared back at Siani, stunned at the strength and _honesty_ in the Welshwoman’s words. She understood the underlying words in Siani’s response; Siani would willingly pay whatever price it took to cure her sister, however she wouldn’t do it if it meant someone else would suffer because of her actions.

It struck her just how different the older woman was to her. Only recently, Rose had gone back to 1987 and saved her father without thinking of the consequences. As a result, she brought Reapers down on them all and the Doctor had been sterilized along with most of humanity. Her father, Pete Tyler, had been the one to make the ultimate sacrifice to save them and bring those that had been sterilized back - he let himself get hit by the car that was supposed to have killed him in the first place. Her friendship with the Doctor had become temporarily strained, the two only just beginning to go back to the easy camaraderie they had shared when she had first begun to travel with him.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts and looking at Siani, Rose saw that she was looking in the sphere’s general direction while absently playing with her locket again. She noticed that the older girl had done the same thing in the break room, playing with the locket without really realizing it.

“That’s a beautiful locket.” Rose commented.

“What?” Siani asked, startled out of her daze and turning to the younger blonde.

“The locket.” Rose prodded, nodding to the necklace the Welshwoman was playing with.

“Oh, thank you.” Siani said, smiling as she tucked it back into her blouse without really noticing it. “I was wearing it when I had been found.”

“It must’ve been hard.” Rose said softly, feeling a wave of amazement surge through her at the strength the petite woman in front of her displayed. “Not knowing who you are and not being able to see.”

“That’s just it, Rose. I _do_ know who I am.” Siani said with a gentle smile, facing the younger girl with large sapphire eyes that expressed nothing but acceptance of her past in their unseeing gaze. “Right here, right now, this is me. An ordinary Welsh girl living in America, working to provide for her family. It doesn’t matter that none of us share blood. We’re a family in every way that counts. And as far as seeing… well, there is more than one way to see. Where you see with your eyes, I see with my fingers, my ears, my nose.”

Once again, Rose was awestruck by the strength Siani possessed, rendered completely silent by the words. The older girl truly had accepted what had happened to her and used it as a means to move on with her life rather than letting it hold her back. At the same time, she never let anyone else use her past or her disability to hold her back either, instead using it to prove that she was just as capable as anyone else to achieve the unexpected and the seemingly impossible.

It was a strength that Rose had seen only in one other person, her mother. Jackie Tyler had pushed through every ordeal that had come her way in order to provide for her daughter, to teach her daughter right from wrong and was ready and willing to move Heaven, Hell and everything that lay between to protect her loved ones, especially her daughter.

“Anyway, enough about me.” Siani said, shaking her head and moving around the table to put the sphere away. “How did you and your friend end up here?”

“We caught a signal, a cry for help.” Rose replied honestly. “We were actually headed somewhere entirely different.”

“You’re sure the signal came from this base?” Siani asked, a small frown on her face.

“Yep.” Rose replied, nodding.

“Must have been the Metaltron.” Siani said thoughtfully. “It must have finally been able to store enough strength to send out a call.”

“Metaltron?” Rose repeated in confusion.

“It’s what everyone calls Mr. van Statten’s living specimen.” Siani replied. “Personally, I wish they had given it a catchier name.”

“Do you ever go down there or do you stay up here with the artifacts?” Rose asked, curious yet with a hint of a challenge in her tone.

“Sometimes, when I take the coffee and food down to the guards, they let me inside the Cage.” Siani admitted softly.

“Can we see it?” Rose asked eagerly, curiosity shining in her eyes.

“I may have taken the liberty of patching into the CCTV network.” Siani said with a sly smile, moving around the table and stepping up to the computer that was in one corner. She began rapidly typing as she continued speaking, “Fair warning though, it isn’t in the best of conditions.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think the scientists tend to get _overzealous_ when trying to get it to talk.”

A video feed appeared on the screen of the Cage, showing the hulking Metaltron bound in its chains. From an objective point of view, it looked like a big pepper pot with a stick jutting out at the top of the dome. It was copper-coloured with large bulbous protrusions on the lower half with a plunger and a whisk on either side of it, just below the dome where limbs might have been.

“It looks like a big… pepper pot.” Rose said, cocking her head to the side.

“Yeah, that was what I was told.” Siani said in agreement. “But for some reason, it terrifies me.” Rose looked at her with a raised eyebrow, unable to make the connection between the ‘pepper pot’ and the sense of terror that the older woman was talking about. Sensing the look, Siani shrugged sheepishly. “I know, it doesn’t make sense, but for some reason, it just does.”

“How did you mean, ‘overzealous’?” Rose asked with a frown, looking back at the video feed.

“See those markings and scarring on the body work?” Siani asked, zooming in on the Metaltron and pointing out the markings she was talking about. Rose nodded and she continued, “I’m not entirely sure, but I think it’s from the scientists’ attempts to open the casing and get it to talk. But all it does is scream.”

Before Rose could respond, a man dressed in an orange hazmat-styled suit entered the Cage carrying a massive saw. The two girls could only watch and listen as the man, Simmons, began sawing at the Metaltron’s casing, causing the creature to emit a metallic sounding screech, filled with pain.

Siani gasped in horror, her large eyes widening even further at _hearing_ the creature in the bowels of the museum get tortured. She had only ever suspected it, based on what she had overheard from the guards and the scientists, but she had never been faced with the proof before.

“What’s he doing?!” Rose asked in alarm and disbelief, her eyes wide in shock. “Why doesn’t anyone _do_ anything?!”

“Because everyone is terrified of van Statten, Rose.” Siani reminded her gently, her own horror at her suspicions being confirmed clear on her fair features. “It’s either speak up and lose everything or stay silent and pray you can live with your conscience. Those are our only options.”

“Where is the Doctor?” Rose asked. “He can stop them.”

“I don’t know.” Siani said, shaking her head. A worried frown crossed her face. “But I suddenly have a really bad feeling about this.”

“Take me down there.” Rose ordered, already heading out of the lab.

Siani hurriedly closed down her computer and followed after Rose, quickly taking the lead.

~*~

Striding into the lobby just outside the Cage, the two blondes walked with purpose.

“Siani, you shouldn’t be down here right now.” A security officer, Bywater, said, shooting to his feet when he saw the two of them.

“I saw the video feed.” Siani said, looking in Bywater's direction for a brief moment before turning to face Simmons, a fierce glare crossing her features. “I know what is being done to the Metaltron, what you all were keeping from me. Rose and I would like to see it, please.”

Bywater sighed. He and the other security officers had adamantly refused to let Siani come down while the scientists were inside with the creature, however they all knew that the young woman suspected what was really going on. Even an idiot would be able to suspect what was being done to the creature and Siani was anything but.

“Fine.” Bywater said after several seconds, sighing again. He went to the keypad and entered the code, opening the massive door to let the two girls inside. “But be careful. We’ll keep watch from outside. And you’ll need to leave your cane out here.”

Siani nodded in understanding. She folded her cane up and handed it to Bywater before stepping inside the Cage with Rose. Simmons closed the door behind them as Rose stepped towards the chained creature.

“Careful.” Siani cautioned Rose, the sense of fear growing inside her even though the creature was chained and helpless.

“Hello.” Rose called in gentle concern, giving an almost imperceptible nod to Siani at the caution. “Are you in pain? My name is Rose Tyler. I’ve got a friend, he can help. He’s called the Doctor.” She stepped closer towards the Metaltron, barely a foot away from it. “What’s your name?”

 _“Yes.”_ The Metaltron said slowly.

“What?” Rose asked, confused.

 _“I am in pain.”_ The Metaltron said. _“They torture me, but still they fear me. Only the golden child does not fear me.”_

Siani frowned, wondering who the Metaltron was talking about. Everyone on the base was afraid of the Metaltron, some were just slightly more adept at concealing it.

“I think he means you, Siani.” Rose said softly, looking at the older woman.

 _“Do you fear me?”_ The Metaltron asked, drawing Rose’s attention back to it.

“No.” Rose replied honestly, actually pitying the creature instead.

_“I… am… dying.”_

“No, we can help you.” Siani said, shaking her head in denial but not moving from her spot. “I’m sure that there is something in this museum that can help you.”

 _“I welcome death, golden child.”_ The Metaltron said, turning its eyestalk on her. Rose and Siani exchanged looks at the name, getting the confirmation that the creature thought Siani wasn’t afraid. _“But I am glad… that before I die… I have met another human who was not afraid.”_

Siani frowned, unable to help but feel that there was something wrong with the Metaltron’s words. It sounded a bit too manipulative, almost like it was trying to _evoke_ sympathy from them. She shook her head, brushing the thought aside as paranoia; the creature had spent at least the better part of 50 years in confinement, experiencing nothing but fear from the humans it encountered while being subjected to unimaginable pain and torture. Even _she_ was afraid of it for all that she spent time with it when she could. If it felt that it had to manipulate them to receive some kindness and sympathy, then she couldn’t blame it.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Rose asked softly, filled with compassion for the pitiful creature.

“ _My race… is dead.”_ The Metaltron said. _“I… shall die… alone._ ”

Rose bit her lip for a moment and then, before Siani could process what the younger girl was doing, reached out her hand. Gently, she rested her palm against the Metaltron’s dome, just to the side of the eyestalk.

“Rose, no!” Siani cried seconds too late as Rose pulled her hand back with a quiet hiss, a golden handprint left where her hand had been.

Rose cradled her hand, scrambling back towards Siani. The handprint glowed for a single second before fading into the Metaltron and both girls watched with wide eyes as it became more animated.

“ _Genetic material extrapolated. Initiate cellular reconstruction!_ ”

The girls could only watch, their shock giving way to horror and Siani moving to stand protectively in front of Rose as the Metaltron broke through the chains binding it in place. Sparks flew as it caused minor explosions at the stone bases where the chains had been secured to the ground.

Simmons entered the Cage, carrying his drill. “What the hell have you done?” He snarled, glaring at the girls as he stepped around them. The Metaltron raised its sucker at him threateningly and Simmons scoffed. “What are you gonna do?” He asked haughtily. “Sucker me to death?”

The Metaltron extended its limb, covering Simmons’ mouth and nose with the sucker and creating a vacuum within its confines. His screams were muted but the sound of his facial bones being crushed echoed into the stone room as his life force was absorbed.

Siani couldn’t move, becoming completely paralyzed with terror. All she could think of was her dreams, the dreams that had haunted her nights for the past 10 years. The dreams were filled with screams, fire and blood, the sound of _‘Exterminate!’_ being shouted over and over again while the air was filled with smoke.

“Siani! Come on!” Rose shouted to the older girl. She grabbed Siani’s arm and pulled her unresisting form out of the Cage.

“Siani!” Bywater cried in alarm, seeing the pure, unadulterated terror on the Welshwoman’s face.

“It’s killing him!” Rose shouted to him, still holding firmly to Siani’s arm supportively and drawing the man’s attention to her. “Do _something_!”

Bywater pressed a button on the console, doing the only thing he _could_ do – raise the alarm.

“ _Condition red! Condition red! I repeat, this is not a drill!_ ”

The sound of the alarms blaring and Bywater’s voice echoing through the bunker drew Siani out of her panic induced thoughts. Shaking her head and looking at her surroundings, she saw the guards sealing the Cage while aiming their guns at the door.

Behind her, the communication screen came to life.

 _“You’ve got to keep it in that cell.”_ The Doctor said, drawing Rose’s attention to the screen.

“Doctor, it’s all my fault.” She said guiltily, looking at his image on the screen.

“Doctor, are you okay?” Siani asked with a frown, having also turned at the sound of his voice. She could hear the minute traces of pain in his voice, masked by what she assumed was years of practice. However, Siani was quite adept at noticing details through video feeds from working with the Cardiff Police while in high school, her heightened hearing also playing a part in that ability.

“I've sealed the compartment.” Bywater informed the Doctor through the screen before the Time Lord could respond to the question or Rose could ask what Siani meant. “It can't get out, that lock's got a billion combinations.”

“A hundred billion combinations.” Siani corrected automatically.

“ _A Dalek's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat_.” The Doctor told them.

“That’s exactly what it’s doing.” Siani said, hearing the quiet tones of the combinations being rapidly run through. Rose and Bywater turned to look at the keypad as well, their eyes widening at the evidence of the Doctor’s words. “Um, Doctor?” Siani asked, turning back to the screen. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how screwed are we?”

 _“100.”_ The Doctor replied honestly.

“You had to ask.” De Maggio muttered, swallowing loudly as her face became several shades paler. Despite this, her hands never wavered as she kept her gun aimed at the Cage door.

Before anyone could say anything else, the klaxon alarms blared in warning as the Cage door opened. The Dalek slowly made its way out.

“Open fire!” Bywater ordered, firing his own gun at the Dalek with the rest of the guards following suit.

Siani and Rose stepped back towards the hallway, inching along the table and staying out of the way of the ricocheting bullets. To their ever-increasing horror, the bullets did nothing to the Dalek, not halting it nor even scratching it in anyway.

“ _Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed_.” van Statten shouted through the still live video feed.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, the bullets aren’t actually _doing_ anything!” Siani shouted, for the moment completely uncaring that this was the man that enabled her to support her family. “Even I can see that and I’m blind!”

 _“Rose, get out of there!”_ The Doctor shouted frantically.

 _“You too Siani, get out!”_ Diana yelled as well, losing her calm façade in the face of the danger posed to the young Welshwoman.

Regardless of the fact that the bullets didn’t seem to have any effect on the Dalek, the guards continued firing their guns until their clips ran out. Like Siani, they too didn’t particularly care at that moment that Henry van Statten basically held their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, in his greedy hands.

“De Maggio.” Bywater said, reloading his gun with a fresh clip. “Get Siani and the girl out alive. That is your job, got that?”

De Maggio nodded, turning to Siani and Rose. “Both of you, with me.” She gestured to them to follow her, handing Siani her cane at the same time.

“What about Bywater and the others?” Siani asked, worried for her friends and colleagues. She held her saree up over her knees with one hand, her drape billowing behind her, and used her cane with the other, the strap looped around her wrist as they ran through the maze of corridors.

“Right now, my job is to get you both out alive.” De Maggio said briskly. She glanced at Siani over her shoulder, not breaking her stride. “You have Carwyn and your sister who need you, focus on getting out of this and getting home to them. Nothing else.”

Siani looked at her unseeingly for a moment before nodding slowly. It was clear that she was still worried for her colleagues but trusted them to be able to look after themselves. Right now, that was all she could do.

Rose was silent, listening and seeing the protectiveness Siani inspired in those under van Statten’s employ. She couldn’t help but think that if van Statten was any less of a creep, he may have inspired the same loyalty in his employees that the young Welshwoman beside her did without any effort at all. When the guard, Bywater, had issued De Maggio her orders and referred to Rose as ‘the girl’, she had been momentarily irritated before realizing that the guard didn’t know her, not like he knew Siani. As far as the guard was concerned, she was one of the intruders that had been caught earlier that day.

As they continued running through the corridors, De Maggio picking up her pace and prompting Siani and Rose to do the same, the lights flickered for a moment before dying out completely. Seconds later, the emergency lights flickered to life.

From the opposite direction, several guards ran towards them, each of them armed with assault rifles.

“Civilians!” De Maggio shouted without breaking her running stride. “Let them through!”

The troop separated from their formation, allowing De Maggio to lead the girls through while still running. Once they had passed, the guards took up positions blocking the corridor, some kneeling while the rest remained standing. All of them had their weapons aimed and ready, waiting for the Dalek to approach.

Meanwhile, De Maggio herded the girls to the nearest stairwell, a few feet behind them having let the two pass her so she could cover their backs.

“Stairs!” Rose gasped with a cheer, stopping at the foot of the staircase and hope blooming in her heart. “That's more like it.” She gripped the railing, catching her breath; despite having spent the past few months travelling with the Doctor, she still wasn’t quite used to high-speed running even if her stamina and endurance had increased out of necessity. “It hasn't got legs. It's stuck!”

Siani on the other hand wasn’t the least bit winded, having endured the same training Cardiff police put their officers through as well as the training regime that the guards in van Statten’s employ had to go through before being assigned weapons or even a uniform. If nothing else, van Statten was a stickler when it came to his own personal safety. Even though it hadn’t been required for Siani to go through the training that the guards did, being a civilian, she willingly agreed to it when one of them had suggested it; she didn’t know it was so that she could protect herself against van Statten if there ever was a need.

“It’s coming!” De Maggio shouted, running up to them. “Get up!”

Not needing to be told twice, Siani and Rose ran up the stairs with De Maggio right behind them. They skidded to a stop after running halfway up the second flight, turning to look back at the stairwell doorway; each of them was apprehensive, watching (or listening in Siani’s case) with trepidation.

“Where is it?” Siani asked quietly, gripping her cane tightly with one hand and holding her sari up with the other.

“It stopped at the stairs.” Rose told her. She breathed heavily, not completely from exertion.

De Maggio aimed her gun at the stationary Dalek. “Now listen to me.” She said firmly. “I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mr. Van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you and maybe that was wrong, but people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?”

For a single moment, there was silence. Then… _“Elevate.”_ The Dalek said.

“Please tell me it’s not _flying_!” Siani pleaded, her unseeing eyes darting back and forth.

“It’s flying.” De Maggio said faintly; the response was given purely out of habit otherwise she was just as stunned as Rose.

“Oh, _Duw._ ” Siani breathed in horror. She took a breath and steeled her nerves, making a snap decision in the face of what they were dealing with. She folded her cane and let it hang from her wrist by the loop, holding her hands out in front of her. “Where is the Dalek?” She asked.

“A little to the right.” De Maggio replied, exchanging a confused look with Rose.

“Here?” Siani asked hurriedly, moving her hands slightly to the right.

“Yeah. Siani, what are you doing?” De Maggio asked in confusion.

Siani didn’t reply, instead flicking her wrists purposefully in the Dalek’s direction. “Anything happen?” She asked hopefully.

“No, it’s still flying up towards us.” De Maggio replied, completely confused.

Siani flicked her wrists again. “What about now?” She asked.

“Nope.” Rose replied, just as confused as the American woman. “What were you trying to do?”

The Dalek reached the first landing and turned, making its way up the last flight between it and its targets.

“Never mind that now. Both of you, get out of here.” De Maggio ordered urgently before Siani could respond.

Siani whipped around to look at the soldier, her friend. “You’re planning on staying back.” She stated rather than asked, knowing the woman all too well.

“What?” Rose asked in alarm, looking at De Maggio. “You have to come with us, you can’t stop it!”

“You only have your sidearm. Not even the MP-5’s and the P-90’s that Bywater and the others had was enough to stop it. Hell, I couldn’t even freeze or blow it up!” Siani pointed out. “Please. You can’t stay back. It’ll kill you just like it killed the others.” Siani begged tearfully.

“Oh, kiddo.” De Maggio said with a sigh, ignoring the partial explanation of what Siani had been trying to do a few minutes earlier. “Someone’s gotta try.” She gently pushed Siani towards Rose. “Now get out!” De Maggio ordered firmly, leaving no room for argument. “Don’t look back! Just run!”

Rose grabbed Siani’s hand and tugged her up the stairs urgently. The two blonde girls ran through the stairwell doorway situated one flight above De Maggio’s position, emerging in a corridor. It was dimly lit by the fluorescent lighting, making the flashing yellow klaxons all the more brighter.

They had only gotten a few feet away from the doorway when the sound of De Maggio’s pain-filled screams reached them. Siani faltered, turning back towards the sound but Rose caught her arm.

“We can’t stop!” Rose told her firmly. “I’m sorry, but we have to keep going.”

Siani gasped tearfully and nodded. “Are we still on Floor 53?” She asked, pushing her grief aside in favor of focusing on the task at hand; of everyone in the compound, Siani was the only one who knew it better than anyone, except perhaps van Statten himself.

“Uh… Yeah.” Rose replied after a few seconds. “Why?”

“You’re absolutely sure?” Siani pressed. “And we turned right?” She asked to confirm.

“Yeah, why?” Rose asked again.

“There’s a door at the end of the corridor.” Siani replied. “It leads out to the loading bay. There’s another stairwell that we can use on the other side and it might buy us time to get farther away from the Dalek.”

“Got it.” Rose replied, nodding. She turned in the direction they were headed and continued running, Siani keeping pace with her even though they were no longer holding hands. “Door!” She exclaimed, skidding to a stop. Rose pushed open the door and poked her head out, checking to see if the path was clear. “Okay, clear. Which way do we go?” She asked, looking at Siani who had stopped next to her; the Welshwoman was breathing slightly more heavily than before.

Endurance was all well and good to keep the heart rate steady during any situation, but it didn’t do much when fear and sorrow were the more prominent emotions being felt by an individual.

“In a slight diagonal line.” Siani replied, indicating the direction with one hand at the same time.

Rose nodded. “Kay.” She said, belatedly remembering that the blind girl couldn’t see her response.

Both girls began running once more, Rose leading the way in the direction Siani had indicated. Racing into the loading bay, Rose tugged Siani to a stop at seeing the weapons aimed at them; looking around, the blonde Londoner noticed that it wasn’t just the soldiers who had the weapons, but people clearly dressed as civilians.

“Hold your fire!” The commander ordered urgently. “Siani, you shouldn’t be here!” He shouted in alarm.

“We were running from the Dalek.” Siani explained quickly, turning towards the sound of the commander’s voice. “It was in stairwell 3, behind us.” She didn’t mention that it had killed everyone so far since that had been all it was doing. Also, with the open comms, Bywater’s orders to De Maggio had been heard by everyone and the lack of the female soldier’s presence was a telling indicator of her fate.

The commander looked at Rose. “You, girl, get Siani out of here.” He ordered briskly.

“Yes, sir.” Rose replied automatically, not bothering to tell him her name or even get annoyed at being more of a second thought to the commander. “Come on, Siani.” She said, gently tugging the blind girl forward.

Siani let Rose pull her along but turned back to look unseeingly at the people closing ranks as they passed. She could hear their movements and knew that it wasn’t just soldiers preparing to cover their escape to safety, but the civilian personnel as well.

Rose pulled them to the doorway before stopping and turning back, seeing the Dalek approach.

“Siani, go!” One of the soldiers in front of them said urgently, aiming her weapon at the Dalek.

Siani tugged on Rose’s hand still clasped within hers and pulled her away from the loading bay.

Rose let herself be tugged along for a few feet before stopping, making Siani stop and turn to her in confusion. “It was looking at me.” Rose told her.

“I’m pretty sure that’s because it wants to complete its self-assigned task of killing all of us.” Siani pointed out.

“I know, but it was looking _right at_ me.” Rose said.

“Okay.” Siani said slowly, taking the younger girl at her word. “What makes you say that? Makes you so certain that it was looking at you?”

“I don’t know.” Rose admitted with a contemplative frown. “It was sort of looking in all directions, but it’s as if there’s something _inside_ the armor. Something that’s looking at me, like it _knows_ me.” The sound of weapons fire reached them, and Rose grabbed Siani’s hand, tugging her down the corridor. “We can talk while we run!” She called in explanation.

“It extrapolated your genetic material. Your DNA.” Siani reminded Rose, using her free hand to hold her sari up while her folded cane swung from her wrist. “That might be why it seems to know you.” Siani suggested.

“Okay, that makes sense.” Rose said with a shrug. She stopped at a door and pulled it open, poking her head to peek around the corner. “Okay, stairwell.” She said, going inside and holding the door open for Siani. “Up or further down?” She asked.

“Up.” Siani replied. “Mr. van Statten’s office is where the Doctor and Diana are.”

“How do you know?” Rose asked curiously as they began racing up the stairs.

“The visual comm system is linked directly to Mr. van Statten’s office. All of the screens go directly there, nowhere else.” Siani explained.

“Somehow, I get the feeling that it wasn’t for any altruistic reason.” Rose said dryly.

“Not in the least.” Siani confirmed, rolling her large, unseeing eyes.

The girls fell silent and focused their energy on running up the stairs and trying not to trip in their frantic haste, using the railing to propel themselves along.

They had only just turned up yet another flight of stairs when Rose’s mobile phone began ringing shrilly. The blonde teenager pulled it out of her pocket and answered the call. “This isn’t the best time.” She said without preamble or stopping her stride, putting it on speaker so that Siani could hear the conversation as well.

 _“Where are you?”_ The Doctor asked, also skipping the preamble.

“Level 49!” Siani called over her shoulder, having kept count of their ascent out of habit.

 _“You've both got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off, up at level 46.”_ The Doctor told them urgently.

“Can't you stop them closing?” Rose asked in alarm.

“Either he’s closing them, or Mr. van Statten is.” Siani told Rose before the Doctor could reply. “The bulkhead doors are massive; they should be able to seal off the Dalek.”

 _“She’s right.”_ The Doctor confirmed. _“I can’t wait, and I can’t help you. Now for God’s sake, run! Both of you!”_

 _“Run, Siani!”_ Diana cried desperately.

“We’re running!” Siani screamed as she turned on the landing and headed up another flight of stairs.

Up and up, the two blonde girls ran, Rose keeping her mobile in hand and the call connected.

 _“Done it. We've got power to the bulkheads.”_ van Statten said.

 _“Girls, the Dalek’s right behind you!”_ Diana said in alarm. _“Hurry!”_

They exited on Level 46 and began running down the corridor. Siani was able to maintain her fast pace while Rose was starting to lag behind, despite her best efforts to keep up with the older girl.

“Come on, Rose! We’re nearly there!” Siani shouted over her shoulder. “One more corridor!”

“We’re nearly there.” Rose said into the mobile “Give us two seconds.”

 _“Doctor, I can't sustain the power. The whole system is failing.”_ van Statten said. _“Doctor, you've got to close the bulkheads.”_ He urged the ancient alien.

There was a silent pause. _“I’m sorry.”_ The Doctor said softly.

The klaxon alarms blared in warning of the slowly descending bulkhead doors. Siani and Rose turned the final corner and raced towards the door.

“Roll!” Siani shouted dropping to the ground and using her momentum to roll beneath the bulkhead door with only just enough space for her to slip through. “Come on!” She shouted, turning back to Rose whom she could hear running towards her. Siani waved her hand in the younger girl’s direction, trying to telekinetically pull her to the door.

Rose gasped as she felt herself being pulled forward but didn't fight against it as it was bringing her closer to the door. She stopped in front of it but before she could slip through the rapidly closing gap, the door fell closed completely.

“Rose! Rose!” Siani shouted banging uselessly on the bulkhead door.

 _“Exterminate!”_ A voice that haunted Siani’s dreams shouted.

“NO!” Siani screamed, tears streaming down from her unseeing eyes.

Rose, the first person other than Siani’s family and close circle of friends to see her as a person in her own right and not as a blind girl or a mystery that needed solving, was dead.

For several minutes, Siani stood against the door, sobbing as tears streamed down her face. Eventually, she turned around, unfolding her cane and began using it to walk the short distance to the lift and entered it once the doors opened, pressing the button for van Statten’s office floor. If nothing else, she needed to tell the Doctor of what had happened to Rose so that he could inform the girl’s family if she had any. The box started the ascent with a quiet hiss and she leaned back against the wall while she waited. 

It only took a few minutes before the bell gave a quiet ‘ding’ to indicate its arrival at their destination. Siani exited the lift outside van Statten’s office, and swiped her security pass that she still had hanging around her neck. She entered the office and was barely able to hold back her wince at the tense atmosphere that filled the room.

“She’s gone.” Siani said quietly, her voice hoarse from her earlier screams. She was barely aware of the tears that still streamed down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help her.”

“Oh, Siani.” Diana breathed softly, hurrying around the table and up to the young Welshwoman. She drew Siani into a gentle hug, trying to comfort the young woman who had been through far too much for someone so young. “It wasn’t your fault.” Diana said firmly.

The Doctor, who had initially been ready to tear into the young woman for not protecting Rose, found the words dying on his lips at the sight of her genuinely distraught face and the tears that she wasn’t even aware of streaming down her face. He had heard the young woman _try_ , heard her words of how close they were to the bulkhead, and for a moment had forgotten that she was blind because of it. But seeing her with her cane out and her face turned in his general direction brought the realization back with startling force.

“She’s right, Siani.” The Doctor said softly instead. “It isn’t your fault.”

“There’s something I don’t understand.” Siani admitted, turning in the direction of the Doctor’s voice. “I had tried freezing the Dalek and blowing it up, but neither worked. That’s never happened before.”

“What do you mean?” The Doctor asked with a frown, a faint memory inching towards the forefront of his mind.

“I have… powers.” Siani admitted slowly and reluctantly; it was obvious that the reluctance was more due to van Statten’s presence than Diani and the Doctor’s, something neither could fault her for considering what they knew about the man. “Molecular Acceleration and Molecular Immobilization. It’s never not worked before.”

“I knew someone who had the same powers.” The Doctor said softly, his memories threatening to overwhelm him. Memories of-. He firmly pushed them aside and focused on Siani, on the present and not the painful past. “Even she had trouble using them against the Daleks after the War began. They had adapted to what we threw at them, and unfortunately it included her powers too.”

“War?” Siani repeated in confusion.

“My people against the Daleks, for the sake of all creation.” The Doctor said softly.

“No side won.” Siani stated rather than asked.

“No. Everyone died.” He admitted.

“I’m sorry.” Siani said sincerely. She slipped out of Diana’s arms and walked towards the Doctor, reaching out and putting her hand on his arm comfortingly.

The Doctor looked down at her and gave a small smile, for the first time since the War ended feeling a small bloom of peace and calm sprout in his weary heart. “Thank you.” He replied.

 _“Open the bulkhead or Rose Tyler dies.”_ A hauntingly familiar voice called.

Everyone turned to the visual comm screen, seeing it on where it had previously been off. On the screen, the Dalek was clearly visible and next to him was -.

“You’re alive!” The Doctor breathed with wide-eyed relief.

 _“Can’t get rid of me.”_ Rose joked nervously.

“We thought you were dead!” Siani said, her hand still on the Doctor’s arm though she was facing the general direction of the comm screen just like everyone else.

 _“Open the bulkhead!”_ The Dalek repeated its order.

 _“Don’t do it!”_ Rose shouted.

 _“What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?”_ The Dalek demanded tauntingly.

The Doctor frowned at the question, surprised at it. Yes, he loved Rose as a friend, as a Companion. But for a _Dalek_ to ask a question about _love_ was unheard of.

“Please, Doctor. You can’t let her be killed!” Siani cried desperately.

The Doctor looked down at Siani. “I killed her once.” He said softly. He walked back to the table where the computer sat. “I can’t do it again.” He pressed the ‘Enter’ key on the keyboard.

Everyone turned their attention to the comm screen where they could see (hear) the bulkhead door open. The Dalek proceeded to move forward with Rose, the girl’s posture stiff.

Van Statten shot to his feet and glared at the Doctor. “What do we do now, you bleeding heart?” He asked angrily. “What the hell do we do?!”

Siani glared in the direction of her employer’s voice, her jaw clenched. She stalked towards him, her steps sure and measured from all the times she had been in that very office, and stopped by his desk. “Mr. van Statten?” She called in a rather sweet voice.

“What, English?” He snapped, turning to look at her.

“Two things, sir. Firstly, I’m Welsh.” She said in that same sweet voice. “And secondly, shut up!” She snapped, her voice becoming uncharacteristically hard.

Then, without warning, she raised the hand not holding her cane and delivered a slap to the American billionaire’s face. The resulting ‘Whack!’ resonated through the room and Diana and the Doctor stared at Siani in amazement.

Diana looked between Siani and van Statten’s rapidly reddening cheek. “About time.” The American woman said unconcernedly.

The Doctor whistled lowly. “Nice.” He said, looking at Siani appraisingly.

“Thank you.” Siani said, a blush forming on her cheeks. “I have an idea about what we can do and honestly, it’s not an idea I like very much, but it’s all I have.”

“What is it?” Diana asked, becoming serious once more.

“We kill the Dalek when it gets here.” Siani replied.

“Siani, all the guns are useless, and the alien ones are in the Vault.” Diana said with a sigh, her body once again riddled with tension.

“Only the ones I finished cataloguing.” Siani refuted. “I still have two crates full of artefacts in my office.”

“Show me.” The Doctor said briskly.

Siani nodded. She smoothly unfolded her cane and began walking towards the office door. The Doctor followed behind her and watched as she easily opened the door and walked out into the corridor without waiting to be assisted; he had a feeling that if she needed help, she would have asked for it herself and wasn’t particularly fond of people trying to assist her because she was blind. It was very similar to someone else he had known, so long ago; the woman who had never let her own blindness prevent her from accomplishing her goals and anything she set her brilliant mind to.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Siani’s soft, melodic voice. “We’re here, sir.” She told him.

“There’s no need to call me ‘sir’, you know.” The Doctor remarked casually as Siani led him inside. He took in the well-organized room, everything categorized and labelled with rather exquisite calligraphy.

“It’s a habit, but I’ll try.” Siani replied. “The weapons are over there.” She said, pointing towards two large bins that were filled with artefacts. “It’s the one on the right, with the dark blue ribbon tied to it. Fair warning, I’m not sure all of them even _are_ weapons.”

“Let’s have a look.” The Doctor said, going to the bin and looking through it. “Broken. Broken. Hairdryer.” He tossed aside the ones that were useless and picked up another, not bothering to be neat.

“You could improvise with the hairdryer.” Siani suggested, hearing him toss the artefact aside and resume digging through the pile.

“Good idea. But no time right now.” He said, mildly impressed that she had thought of it. “And where did you get a Crucian hairdryer from anyway?” He asked incredulously.

“Cardiff.” Siani replied matter-of-factly. “Most of what we have is from there; on the plus side, it allows me to go home with my sister and my son more often.”

The Doctor made a sound of understanding; the Rift must still be active, especially if a human like Siani was gifted with powers. “Do you have any other abilities aside from Molecular Immobilization and Acceleration?” He asked curiously, deeming another item as broken and tossing it aside.

“Telekinesis.” Siani replied honestly.

He glanced at her briefly before turning back to the bin, pulling out another item and looking at it. “Oh, yes.” He said, hoisting it up. “Horizon-Energy Blaster. It blasts pure heat – hotter than the sun, even.” He explained to Siani as he armed it, all the while praying that it was still operational. “Which is why it was banned from production and use by the Shadow Proclamation.” He added as an after-thought.

“Blimey.” Siani breathed, still stuck on ‘hotter than the sun’.

“Lock and load.” The Doctor said with a grin. He looked at Siani. “Stay here.” He ordered.

Siani nodded. “The stairwell is your best bet to reach Rose since you don’t have access to the lift.” She said, walking him out of her office. “The closest one is four doors down that way.” She pointed to her right. “The door itself is a bit wonky, you have to push against the middle of the handlebar as opposed to the sides like most people do.”

The Doctor nodded before realizing that Siani couldn’t see him. “Got it.” He said.

He turned in the direction Siani had indicated and took off at a run, his hearts racing at the thought of Rose being with his greatest enemy on her own.

“Be careful.” Siani whispered before turning and going back into her office.

~*~

Nearly two hours later, Siani had her travel bag packed after a conversation with Diana about their next steps in the wake of what they had experienced. Among other things discussed, Diana had freed Siani from her employment contract which, in all honesty, Siani was grateful for, despite the friendships she had made while working at the museum. Diana had also set aside a _very_ sizable sum for Siani to go towards caring for Rhiannon and Carwyn until she could find suitable employment should she want to continue working (the money was enough that even if she didn’t work, she could still live in luxury for the rest of her life as could Carwyn). A somewhat lesser sum had been distributed among each of the surviving personnel as well as a paid vacation to any destination of their choosing and counselling with a certified therapist who was on van Statten’s payroll.

She exited the lift at the 53rd floor exhibit and followed the sound of Rose and the Doctor’s voices; she had heard their voices on the CCTV footage of the exhibit floor despite it already having been evacuated.

“The museum’s being evacuated.” She told the pair, slinging the strap of her duffle bag onto her shoulder. “Mr. van Statten is being reported as missing to cover his memory being wiped and Diana is ordering the base to be filled with cement. We should get out before that happens.” She added dryly.

“About time.” Rose muttered.

“Mhmm.” Siani agreed, nodding.

She didn’t notice the Doctor looking at her contemplatively, but Rose certainly did. The blonde Londoner looked at him questioningly and he shook his head silently in response. “What’ll you do now?” He asked Siani.

“Go back to my flat and make the arrangements for Rhia to be taken home to Cardiff.” Siani replied. “I’ll need to sort out the medical transfer and speak with her doctors to see if she’s fit to travel, otherwise I’ll be staying here until she is.”

“We can give you a lift.” The Doctor offered. “Plenty of room, eh Rose?” He looked down at the teenager who laughed as though it was a private joke shared between them.

“Sure, I’d love that.” Siani accepted with a smile.

“Come on, then. Transport’s just behind us.” He said with a grin, opening the TARDIS door. “Three paces ahead and you’ll reach the door.” He added.

Siani nodded and used her cane to cross the distance, Rose walking beside her. They reached the door and stopped, Siani holding her hand out to touch the ‘transport’ that the Doctor had mentioned. She frowned, feeling the wooden panels.

“A box?” She asked curiously.

“There’s a slight step before you enter.” Rose said exchanging a grin with the Doctor over Siani’s head.

Siani carefully entered and stood in the doorway, a quiet gasp escaping her lips at the strange sensation that filled her. It was like coming home after a long time away. A gentle hum filled her mind, the melody both beautiful and timeless and almost endless.

“Wow.” She breathed; her unseeing eyes were wide in amazement as she carefully crossed the grated floor. “What’s that humming?” She asked curiously.

“It’s the TARDIS.” The Doctor replied. “She’s never done that with a human before.” He said in surprise.

“She?” Siani repeated. “She’s sentient?”

“Yes.” He replied. “She’s a time machine. She can travel anywhere in time and space and still have you home before anyone realizes you’ve gone.”

“Really?” Siani asked a bit sceptically. “And there’s no margin of errors?”

“There is a bit.” The Doctor amended sheepishly. “But it’s very rare.”

“Why are you telling me this if you’re just taking me home?” Siani asked dubiously.

“We could take you for a few trips before dropping you home.” Rose said hopefully.

“I don’t know.” Siani said uncertainly. “I have Rhia and Carwyn to think about and they both need me.

“It’s like the Doctor said, we could have you home before your family even realizes you had been gone.” Rose said, still hopeful. “Only a few trips and we can drop you home.”

“One trip.” Siani said firmly. “At least for now. Then you take me home because being a mother is more important than having adventures. Even if it’s something as amazing as this.”

“Deal.” The Doctor agreed, knowing exactly what she meant about being a parent. “Hold tight.” He said, curling his hand around a lever. He watched as Rose took Siani’s hand and put it on the railing before holding on next to her, the Welshwoman’s bag on the floor by her feet. He grinned and flipped the lever, sending them into the Vortex. 

_Links:_

_*Siani sari (mint green with metallic mint green embroidery and metallic silver blouse) -_ [ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879477537439/_](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879477537439/)

 _*Siani bangles (mint green) -_ [ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879481571880/_ ](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879481571880/)

_*Siani earrings (mint green diamonds making up the petals) -_ [ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879481370983/_ ](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879481370983/)

_*Siani hairstyle -_ [ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/341640321725476485/_](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/341640321725476485/)

_*Siani bindi (mint green) -_ [ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879478522305/_](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879478522305/)

 _*Siani shoes -_ [ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879476966254/_](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879476966254/)


	3. The Long Game

_Note: In case it was unclear, I have played with the episode order a bit. In my universe, Episode 8 ‘Father’s Day’ is set before Episode 6 ‘Dalek’. I wanted Rose to be faced with a person who had just as much reason to change the past as she did but refused to do so because of the consequences it could have._

_More importantly, before I go any further, I want to make it known that I have not had contact with anyone who is visually impaired, aside from people who wear glasses (most of my family wearing glasses, myself included). To that end, I do not want to offend anyone if my descriptions aren’t accurate. If you feel that I should change certain parts to make my portrayal of Siani (the blind character) more accurate, please don’t hesitate to message me and I will try to do the best I can. Preemptively, I’m sorry if I do offend anyone, it is not my intention to do so._

_Please, read and review._

**The Long Game**

_200, 000_

_Satellite 5, Orbiting Planet Earth_

The TARDIS materialized in a small, secluded corner with a peculiar wheezing sound that Siani assumed was normal; the funny thing about the noise was that it seemed _familiar_ somehow, but the memory just out of reach. The feeling was the same with the TARDIS itself, familiar but unable to say why or how.

After leaving Utah, 2012, each of them had showered and changed into fresh clothes. The Doctor was dressed in his usual outfit, with a fresh dark green jumper beneath his leather jacket. Siani was dressed in another green sari, more of a metallic forest green in shade with a sleeveless blouse of the same colour, the drape pleated and pinned to left shoulder*. She had a small set of matching bangles** on each wrist and a pair of green and white diamond earring studs** in her lower ear piercing while the upper two piercings had white diamond studs. She had retied her hair into her usual bun** after brushing the thick locks out and had adorned her face with her usual light dusting of powder, a line of black kohl along her waterline and a forest green bindi** between her eyebrows. On her feet were a pair of matching 4” heeled strappy sandals**. She had inadvertently matched with the Doctor, something that had sent Rose into peals of laughter the moment she had seen them; the younger blonde was dressed in a red and black zip-up top and a pair of black trousers over black 2” heeled boots. Rose also had her hair tied in a high pony with a few strands left loose to frame her lightly made up face (mascara, blush and lip gloss), a set of rings on her middle fingers and thumbs, a watch on her left wrist and a pair of silver hooped earrings.

“Doctor, can I speak with you for a moment _outside_?” Rose asked as soon as the wheezing stopped, glancing pointedly at the door.

He looked at the younger of the two blondes sitting on the jump seat with a small frown. “Sure.” He said with a small, confused frown, nodding.

“Be back in a mo.” Rose said to Siani.

“Okay.” The blind Welshwoman replied absently, busy unclenching her fingers from the tight grip she had on the railing. Despite this, her face was lit with wonder and amazement as she listened to the TARDIS humming in her mind, regaling her with an ancient and timeless tune.

“So where are we?” Rose asked as soon as they’d exited the TARDIS.

“It’s 200 000, and it's a spaceship.” He replied in a quiet voice, unsure if Siani had a heightened sense of hearing as a result of her blindness. “No, wait, space station.” He corrected himself, glancing around. “And, uh, go and try that gate over there.” He pointed to a gate off to the side. “Off you go.” He said, moving back and leaning casually against the TARDIS.

Rose grinned. “200 000?” She asked in confirmation.

“200 000.” The Doctor replied, grinning brightly. He loved watching his Companion’s expressions when they experienced new things; in the time since the War, it was a reminder of _her_ reactions, the wonder and amazement she always felt no matter how long she would travel, as though it was the first time she was experiencing it.

“Right.” Rose muttered softly, turning slightly and opening the TARDIS door. “Siani? Out you come.”

Siani promptly exited the TARDIS with her cane out, the strap looped around her wrist, and tapping out the path in front of her. Her face brightened and lit up with wonder the moment her heeled feet touched the station floor, hearing the sounds and smelling the scents that surrounded them. “This is… amazing.” She breathed, a breath-taking smile crossing her face.

“I know, yeah?” Rose agreed, feeling giddy and excited. She wondered if this was how the Doctor felt when during her own first trip with him, to Platform One.

“Where are we?” Siani asked curiously, lightly tapping her cane against the floor in front of her and listening to the responding sounds. She frowned thoughtfully, cocking her head to the side. “I hear… engines?” She asked, frowning in confusion.

Rose and the Doctor exchanged impressed looks at the blind woman’s words. The Doctor nodded encouragingly, and Rose turned back to Siani. “Okay, so, er, judging by the architecture, I’d say we’re around the year 200 000.” She said before pausing and listening carefully. “And you were right, the sound is definitely engines. We’re on some sort of space station.” Rose glanced around, nodding. “Yeah, definitely a space station.”

“It feels a bit warm.” Siani remarked, fanning herself with her free hand.

“Yeah, they could turn the heating down.” Rose agreed, tugging at the collar of her top. “Tell you what – let’s try that gate over there.” She said, nodding to the gate the Doctor had pointed out to her. “It’s about… uh, I’m not sure how to measure the steps.” She admitted, completely out of her element.

“Turn right and it’s 15 steps straight.” The Doctor said, moving to stand next to the blind woman. “But I can guide you, if you’d prefer, Siani.” He offered, knowing that it was a big change for her.

“Thank you, I’d like that.” Siani accepted gratefully.

The Doctor gently took her free hand and hooked it around his elbow, feeling her tighten her grip once she had a proper hold. Rose ran over to the gate and opened it, waiting for the Doctor and Siani to catch up with her before leading them through and up the steps behind it. On the other side, they were met with a massive viewing window that took up most of the deck.

“Here we go!” The young blonde Londoner said cheerfully. She stopped in front of the window with the Doctor coming to stand next to her, Siani on his other side. “This is…” She faltered, unable to accurately describe the magnificent sight before them to someone who wasn’t able to see it. “I’ll let the Doctor describe it.” She said, remembering how he had been able to help Siani only a few minutes earlier.

“The Fourth great and bountiful Human Empire.” The Doctor declared proudly, Siani still holding his arm. “And there it is, planet Earth at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population 96 billion. The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with Mankind right in the middle.”

“Amazing.” Siani breathed with wonder. “And the Earth, itself? Does it still look like it does in the 21st Century or have the continents changed yet?”

“No, it’s too soon for any real noticeable continental change.” The Doctor replied with a smile. “On the surface, however, the mega-cities are visible like tiny, dark grey coloured masses against the swirl of whites, blues and greens. The tops of the higher buildings are more prominent, though.” He described further.

Rose watched as he continued to describe the sight before them, Siani prompting him with question after question that he patiently responded to. It was as though he had experience speaking with and explaining things to someone with a visual impairment, the way he showed her what he and Rose could see but without making her feel as though she was missing out on not being able to see with her own eyes.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by the Doctor calling her name. “Yeah?” Rose asked, looking away from the window she had turned back to. She was surprised to see the Doctor and Siani at the gate, the Time Lord looking back in her direction.

“Come on, we’re going to go say hello to the locals.” He told her nodding in Siani’s direction, the blind Welshwoman already on the other side of the gate and patiently waiting for them. “You okay?” He asked in concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Rose reassured him cheerfully. “Let’s go meet the locals and explore.” She chirped, shaking her head and pushing her thoughts on her friend’s behaviour. She resolved to ask him about it when she got the chance, hoping he would be able to tell her and not brush her off like he usually did when she inquired about his past.

The Doctor frowned slightly as Rose joined them, wondering what had the young girl so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed him and Siani move or that he had called her name twice before she finally responded. Brushing it off as a reaction to seeing the future planet Earth, similar to how she had been when he took her to Platform One, he led the two blonde humans through the station, one arm around Rose’s shoulders while Siani had a hold of his other elbow in lieu of using her cane which she was folded up and hanging from her wrist.

“You’re going to like this-fantastic period of history.” The Doctor said, grinning brightly. “The human race at its most intelligent - culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners…”

“Out of the way!” A man yelled rudely, interrupting the Doctor and pushing past Siani. She stumbled into the Time Lord, who steadied her quickly before she could fall.

“I think we have different definitions of the term ‘good manners’, Doctor.” Siani said dryly.

A bell rang and suddenly, the deck was bustling with activity where only seconds before, there had been no sign of life aside from the time travellers. People appeared from seemingly nowhere, opening up food vending stations and serving the customers that had begun queuing up.

The Doctor looked on, completely taken aback while Rose snickered at his expression. Siani had her head cocked to the side, a thoughtful frown on her face.

“Thank you very much indeed.” A chef said to one of his customers. “Somebody there?” He called.

“That’s great. What do you want, love?” Another said to a customer. “All right, keep it moving.” He called to the crowded queue of customers in front of his stall. “I’ll be with you lot in a minute.”

“One at a time.” Another warned his queued customers. “What now, what was it? Kronkburger with cheese, kronkburger with pajatos.” The vendor turned and got the order ready, turning back to his customer. “Do you want a drink?” He asked. He held his finger up in a ‘one moment gesture to the customer before turning his attention further down the queue. “Oi, you, mate. Stop pushing!” The vendor shouted to a tall man with spiky, platinum blonde hair who was pushing and fighting with another customer. “Get back. I said, back.” The spiky-haired customer reluctantly moved back when his attempts to argue yielded no results.

Rose slipped between the customers and looked at the posters attached to the front of the vending stalls. “Fine cuisine?” She asked, looking back at the Doctor with a frown.

Siani wrinkled her nose at the blend of scents. “It smells like fast food restaurants.” She remarked.

“My watch must be wrong.” The Doctor said. He looked at his watch with a frown. “No, it’s fine.” He looked back at the hustle and bustle that surrounded them, the noise blending together discordantly. “It’s weird.” He murmured.

“That's what comes of showing off.” Rose teased with a grin. “Your history's not as good as you thought it was.”

“My history’s perfect.” He argued defensively.

“Well, obviously not.” Rose muttered under her breath.

“Everyone here seems human.” Siani remarked, once again frowning thoughtfully. “Where are the aliens? The millions of species, beings from the millions of worlds?” She asked.

“That’s… a good question.” The Doctor said, looking around at the crowd once again and seeing what Siani had noticed.

“Hang on, how can you know that if you can’t see them?” Rose asked, confused.

“I can see auras.” Siani revealed. “I knew you weren’t human, Doctor, the moment you and Rose walked into van Statten’s office because of your aura; it isn't like a human's.” She admitted, facing the direction she could sense the Doctor in. She didn’t notice him looking at her in shock and surprise, his blue eyes wide.

“What are auras?” Rose asked curiously, looking at Siani and also missing the Doctor’s stunned expression.

“They’re like a light that shines from the soul. From what I understand, all souls have a unique aura, though I’m assuming that individual Races have a specific feel to theirs that’s exclusive to them alone.” She explained as best she could.

“That’s basically what it is.” The Doctor said in a slightly high-pitched voice, drawing the girls’ attention to him.

Siani frowned, hearing the change in his voice. “Doctor, you okay?” She asked in concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied with a grin. “But you must be starving.” He said, changing the subject.

“No, I’m good, thanks.” Siani refused politely.

“No, you just need some grub. And you need to keep your strength up for the baby you’ve got at home.” The Doctor said. He turned and stepped up to a vendor. “Oi, mate, how much is a kronkburger?” He asked.

“Two credits twenty, sweetheart.” The chef replied with a fake smile. “Now join the queue.” He said, pointing to the impossibly long line of customers waiting to be served.

“Money. We need money.” The Doctor said, turning back to Siani and Rose. “Let’s use a cashpoint.” He led the girls to a Credit Five cashpoint and used his sonic screwdriver on it.

“What’s that?” Siani asked, hearing the gentle buzzing of the device.

“Sonic screwdriver.” The Doctor and Rose replied in unison.

Siani laughed lightly. “Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, ‘this could be a little more sonic’?” She asked rhetorically.

The Doctor shot a grin in her direction even though she couldn’t see it, once again struck by how much she reminded him of _her;_ that had been exactly what _she_ had said when he showed her the screwdriver once it was built. Siani _looked_ completely different but behaved so similar to _her_. Even the powers and the ability to see auras was the same.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when the machine produced a slim, silver stick. The Doctor picked it up and took Siani’s hand, dropping the credit stick into her outstretched palm. “There you go, pocket money.” He said. “Don’t spend it all on sweets.” He warned.

“How does it work?” Siani asked curiously, curling her fingers around the stick. “Or are we supposed to figure it out on our own?”

“That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.” The Doctor replied with a grin. "The thing is, time travel’s like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guidebook; you've got to throw yourself in – eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers. Or is that just me?” He asked rhetorically. He shook his head and turned back to Rose and Siani, both girls giggling. “Off you two go!” He urged. “Oh, and stay together, both of you.” He added, becoming serious.

The Doctor shot Rose a meaningful look, gesturing pointedly in Siani’s direction. Rose nodded reassuringly, understanding his silent request to not let the blind girl be on her own; they had no idea how this time period would react to an obviously visually impaired person, seeing as it wasn’t quite the era of good manners as the Doctor had previously thought.

Siani, not noticing the exchange, nodded in response to the Doctor’s order. “Shall we go?” She asked cheerfully, unfolding her cane.

Rose carefully looped Siani’s free hand through her arm the way she had seen the Doctor do it. “We shall.” She said theatrically before bursting out in a peel of laughter, Siani’s own bell-like peels mixing in a second later.

Rose guided Siani to a pair of open seats at an otherwise full table before going to the nearest vendor and ordering some food, the kronkburger the Doctor had previously asked the price of with a side of pajatos and a drink. Taking the food back to Siani, the pair deciding to share since neither were particularly hungry at the moment, Rose described the food to the blind girl; the kronkburger was a variation of a beef burger, the meat more red-toned in colour than the 21st Century girls were used to while the pajatos were a blue-coloured version of chips. All in all, it wasn’t too bad, taste-wise, but neither were too eager to get anymore than what they had.

_‘All staff are reminded that the canteen area now operates a self-cleaning table system. Thank you!’_ A voice announced over the tannoy.

“Try this.” Rose said after several minutes of eating in silence, filled only by the noise of the people around them eating at a rapid pace. She placed the drink cup in Siani’s hand. “It’s called ‘Zaphic’.” She explained to the older blonde’s questioning glance. “It’s nice, it’s like a, uh, Slush Puppy.”

“What flavour?” Siani asked; she had become rather picky in her drink tastes since she began breast-feeding Carwyn. She didn’t know why, but had decided to listen to her taste buds after a particularly violent round of puking.

Rose took the cup back and took a sip through the straw. “A sort of… beef?” She replied questioningly.

Siani stared in the direction of her voice, gaping incredulously. “I never thought I’d miss Chinese take away.” She said after a moment, shaking her head in amazement.

The comment set Rose off into peals of laughter, joined a few moments later by the older girl. “You get used to it.” Rose reassured her once she had calmed down a bit. “This helps.” She admitted, pulling her mobile out of her pocket and holding it in front of Siani. “My mobile.” She added belatedly. “The Doctor gave it a bit of a top-up. Phone your sister; talking to them or sometimes just hearing their voices on the machine helps much more than you realize.”

“And you can phone home even though it’s 198 000 years ago?” Siani asked, part hopeful and part incredulous.

“Yup.” Rose replied cheerfully. “Honestly, try it. Go on.” She encouraged, putting the mobile in Siani’s hand.

The older girl hesitated for a moment before dialling her home’s landline. She took a breath and put the mobile to her ear, suddenly nervous and anxious as she waited for the call to connect, hearing the line ringing.

_“Jones residence, Meghan speaking.”_ An American accented voice answered the call.

Sinai’s eyes widened at hearing her live-in nanny/ Registered Nurse’s voice. “Meghan, it’s Siani.” She said, barely managing to keep her amazement out of her voice.

_“Hey, how you doing?”_ She asked curiously, the sound of her puttering around the kitchen and the soft music of Carwyn’s portable cradle echoing in the background. _“And before you ask, Carwyn is doing great. He’s an angel, like always and currently sleeping like one. And Rhia’s having a good day; she was asleep when I checked in on her and collected her breakfast tray ten minutes ago.”_ The American woman reported cheerfully. _“And Carwyn also had his mid-morning milk, finishing most of his bottle. By the way, you are still pumping regularly, right? It’s important to keep doing so to encourage continual nipple and breast stimulation and protect your milk supply.”_

“I’m doing good. That’s great, especially that Rhia’s having a good day. And yes, I’m still pumping regularly.” Siani responded in order of the report and the question put to her by the RN. “Thanks for everything, Meghan.”

_“You’re welcome.”_ Meghan chirped. _“So, what’s the call for? By the way, we heard about van Statten’s disappearance and the museum being closed down. It was all over the news for the past two days. Is that why you called? You're still there, helping with the shut-down procedures and paperwork?”_

“Not exactly.” Siani said slowly, thinking rapidly to explain the situation without giving away the time travelling; she took note of the time reference Meghan had given and assumed that it had been at least two days since the events at van Statten's museum. “I’m hitching a lift with some friends; they’re visiting from the UK for a few weeks and are taking a road trip through the state. I should be home in a few days at the latest, but call me if anything goes wrong with Rhia or Carwyn. I’ll figure out a way to get home as immediately as possible.” She paused for a moment, trying to think of anything she had forgotten.

“You can give them my number.” Rose supplied helpfully, taking a sip of her drink.

Siani nodded. “My mobile needs to be upgraded, so take down the number of the mobile I called you from.” She said. “It belongs to a woman named Rose. Just ask to talk to me if you call.”

_“You’re hitching a lift with some road tripping friends, your phone’s out of commission so call this number rather than yours and you’ll be home in a few days, or sooner if things go south here.”_ Meghan repeated. _“Got it. Repeat the phone number for me just to make sure.”_

“Hold on, I’m passing the mobile to Rose.” Siani said, handing the device to the younger girl.

“Hello, Meghan?” Rose asked in greeting. “This is Rose.” There was a pause as she listened to what was being said. Then she delivered a string of numbers before pausing again. “You’re welcome.” Rose said cheerfully. “Here’s Siani.” She handed the mobile over once more.

“You got it?” Siani asked, holding the mobile to her ear.

_“Yeah.”_ Meghan replied. _“Listen, you have fun and be safe.”_

“Thanks.” Siani said. “Bye.”

_“Bye.”_ Meghan replied before cutting the line.

Siani ended the call on her end as well before passing the mobile back to Rose. “Thank you.” The blind Welshwoman said gratefully. “You were right. Talking to them really helps. And thank you for giving her your number.” She said sincerely. “I can’t say how much that means to me.”

“You’re welcome.” Rose said with a gentle smile, covering the older girl’s hand with her own. “I know it can be a change… and a bit of a shock as well, I suppose. So, don’t hesitate to come to me if you need to call home at any time, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Siani replied, nodding a smiling beautifully.

An alarm sounded, startling them both. They watched/ listened in surprised confusion as everyone around them immediately began packing their belongings, the vendors closing up their stalls as well, and leaving the deck just as quickly as they had arrived.

“Oi, you two! Rose, Siani!” The Doctor called from behind them.

Rose turned towards his voice and saw him waving them over. She waved to him in acknowledgement and turned back to Siani. “The Doctor wants us to meet him.” Rose explained, picking up her drink. “He’s behind us, a few feet away.”

Siani nodded and got to her feet, unfolding her cane and hooking her other hand around Rose’s elbow as an added precaution. Rose led the way to the Doctor, joining him and the two, young and pretty women he was standing with.

“Siani, Rose, this is Cathica and Suki. Cathica, Suki, this is Siani and Rose.” He introduced the four women to each other. “Cathica and Suki are journalists here on Satellite Five.” He explained, at the same time telling them where they had landed.

“Hello.” A gentle and sweet voice greeted them warmly.

“That’s Suki.” The Doctor whispered helpfully in Siani’s ear, earning an understanding nod.

“Hi.” A slightly rougher and more standoffish voice said.

“That’s Cathica.” He said.

“Charmed to meet you.” Siani said sweetly, smiling in the direction of their voices.

“Charmed to meet you, too.” Suki replied.

“Where do you want to start? With the newsroom?” Cathica asked, focusing more on the Doctor than either of his Companions.

“Sure.” He replied, nodding.

“This way, please.” She said, turning and walking down the corridor.

Rose guided Siani as they followed Cathica and Suki, the Doctor on the blind woman’s other side and quietly describing their surroundings to her. Cathica led them into the newsroom and gestured to them to stand behind one of the two double-barred railings. As the Doctor continued describing their surroundings, Rose looked around the almost sterile room, sparsely furnished and mainly themed white in colour.

The most interesting thing about the room was the equipment set up in the middle of the room; there was an octagonal desk around a central chair, several wires connecting both parts to each other. Each desk space had a pair of almost gel-looking palm-print pads and above the chair was a light fixture connected to a black metal base attached to the ceiling.

Suki took a seat at an open desk, six other people already seated at the other spaces and waiting patiently.

Cathica, the only one of the journalists not seated, took a step forward. “Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection.” She said with a warning note to her voice. She turned to the Doctor. “How do you want it, by the book?” She asked.

“Right from scratch, thanks.” He replied, nodding.

Siani frowned slightly at the other woman’s so obvious attempts to impress them. On either side of her, Rose and the Doctor exchanged small smirks, noticing the same thing.

Cathica turned to her colleagues. “Okay.” She said. “So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot, - my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni.” She turned to her observers. “That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to Floor 500 praising me, and please do.” The Doctor nodded as the woman continued, “Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy.” She smiled at her observers.

“Actually, it’s the law.” Suki pointed out helpfully, a gentle smile on her face.

“Yes, thank you, Suki.” Cathica snapped, wiping the smile off the other woman’s face. “Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go.” She settled into the central chair. “And…engage safety.” Her seven colleagues held their palms out over the palm-prints in front of them. Lights began coming on around the room with a rhythmic sound. The trio of time travellers glanced around briefly, trying to get their eyes to adjust to the sudden change in the brightness level; Siani was first, being more surprised at the shock of the sudden change against her unseeing eyes, with the Doctor and Rose succeeding one after the other a few seconds later. They turned back to Cathica just as she snapped her fingers purposefully. A portal opened in her forehead with a quiet ‘snikt’ and her seven colleagues put their hands into the palm-prints one after another. “And three, two… and spike.” A stream of shimmering ice-blue light shone directly into the opening.

Rose stared at Cathica in slightly disgusted horror, trying not to throw up the food she had just consumed.

“What was the ‘snikt’ sound?” Siani asked.

“She has a portal in her head and the sound was it opening.” The Doctor explained. Siani’s expression became just as horrified as Rose’s at the explanation. “Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain _is_ the computer.”

“If it all goes through her, she must be a genius.” Rose mused softly, moving past her initial reaction to focus on what was being said.

“How does her head not explode from it all?” Siani asked, more concerned for the woman than she was interested in the new things she was being told.

“She doesn’t remember any of it.” The Doctor replied, moving out from behind the railing and walking around the octagonal platform. “The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets.”

“That’s good.” Siani said softly to herself. She turned in the direction of the Doctor’s voice. “What about the people you said were sitting around the platform edges?” She asked curiously.

Rose made a sound of agreement, curious about the same thing. She walked around the platform edge and stopped between two of the journalists, crouching between them. Neither employee reacted in any way to her presence.

“They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit 600 channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place.” The Doctor explained, completing his circuit around the room. “Now that's what I call power.” He said, leaning against the front of the railing.

“Who monitors the journalists?” Siani asked curiously. “Who ensures that there is no bias, that they follow company policy and the law?” She asked, reiterating what both Cathica and Suki had mentioned.

“Floor 500.” The Doctor replied, beaming at her.

“I can _see_ her brain.” Rose muttered in disgust, joining them at the railing once more.

“Okay, outside of a medical situation, a medical class or the telly, that’s just wrong.” Siani said, shaking her head. “At least, for me.” She added, realizing that things might be different in 2001st Century.

“Not just for you.” The Doctor said heavily. “Even for _this_ time period, the technology’s wrong.”

“Trouble?” Rose asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.

“Oh, yeah.” He replied, grinning down at his beautiful and feisty Companions, both looking excited and eager.

Suddenly, there was a slight shuddering sound and Suki twitched slightly. She gasped and pulled her hand away from the pads as though she had been given an electric shock. The other six journalists slowly lifted their hands from their pads, the lights shutting down as the information stream cut off.

Cathica’s portal closed and she blinked rapidly a few times to reorient herself. “Come off it, Suki. I wasn’t even halfway.” She snapped in annoyance, sitting up in the chair and turning to the other woman. “What was that for?” She demanded to know.

“Sorry.” Suki replied weakly, cradling her palm with her other hand. “It must’ve been a glitch.”

“Oh.” Cathica sighed in disappointment, getting up from the chair.

_‘Promotion!’_ A voice called over the tannoy.

Everyone turned towards a projection that lit up one wall, the word ‘Promotion’ also lighting up as it was spoken.

“Come on! This is it. Come on! Oh God, make it me. Come on, say my name.” Cathica prayed under her breath. The Doctor and Rose glanced at her in mild concern while Siani cocked her head to the side, just as concerned as her friends about the strange behaviour. “Say my name, say my name…”

_‘Promotion for… Suki Macrae Cantrell.’_ The tannoy announced. Suki’s jaw dropped in shock while Cathica’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. ‘ _Please proceed to Floor 500_.’

“I don’t believe it.” Suki breathed in awe, slowly standing up. She stared at the projection that had her full name written in large, luminescent letters. “Floor 500!”

“How the hell did you manage that?” Cathica demanded angrily, rounding on the smaller woman. “I'm above you!”

“I just applied on the off chance.” Suki replied softly, not seeming to mind the anger directed at her; though whether that was because she was used to Cathica’s personality or whether she was too stunned by her promotion was anyone’s guess. “And they’ve said yes!” She squealed excitedly. She turned back to the rest of the room’s occupants, a bright smile forming on her face.

Cathica crossed her arms. “That’s not fair.” She said petulantly. “I’ve been applying to Floor 500 for three years.”

Siani leaned towards the Doctor. “So this Floor 500…” She started to ask.

“It’s where the walls are made of gold.” The Doctor replied, nodding.

Siani and Rose both looked at him incredulously, wondering what that meant. It sounded like complete nonsense to the two 21st Century humans. And that was coming from one who was blind, had been found wandering the streets of Cardiff with complete amnesia and then spent the following ten years living atop a Rift in Time and Space that ran through the city.

Everyone left the Newsroom one after another, each person congratulating Suki before leaving, until eventually only she, the Doctor, Cathica, Rose and Siani were left. Suki hurriedly left the room with Cathica following her, heading in the opposite direction from the other journalists. The Doctor, Rose and Siani followed after the pair, the blind Welshwoman with her hand hooked around the Time Lord’s elbow as she tapped their steps with her cane. After a short detour to Suki’s quarters where she packed a bag, the small group made their way to the lifts.

Suki set her bag down in front of the lift as soon as they reached. “Cathica, I’m going to miss you!” She said sincerely before turning to the Doctor. “Floor 500! Thank you!” She said gratefully.

“I didn’t do anything.” The Doctor admitted, shrugging lightly.

“Well, you’re my lucky charm.” Suki said with a sweet smile and an excited laugh.

“All right. I’ll hug anyone.” The Doctor said with a cheerful grin. Siani pulled her hand away from his elbow and gave Suki a tight hug that she returned with equal fervour.

“How are you holding up?” Rose asked Siani quietly, angling her body towards the older girl’s while keeping her voice low so their conversation could remain private.

Siani paused for a moment, thinking on her answer. “It’s a lot to take in.” She replied honestly.

“Do you want to go back to the TARDIS?” Rose asked. “I can take you back if you want to get away from it all.” She offered sincerely.

“No, I’ll be alright.” Siani declined politely. “I just need to get used to it and the best way to do that is to push through. Like visiting Paris, yeah?” She asked with a grin, referring to what the Doctor had said some time earlier.

Rose laughed. “Yeah.” She said, nodding.

_‘All staff are reminded that the 1640 break session has been shortened by 10 minutes. Thank you.’_

“Oh, my God, I’ve got to go!” Suki cried, drawing Rose and Siani’s attention back to her. The Doctor, Siani and Rose looked on in amusement as Suki grabbed her bag, Cathica watching with a bitter expression on her face. “I can't keep them waiting. I'm sorry!” She cried over her shoulder, hurrying towards the lift. The bell dinged and the doors slid open. She stepped inside and turned around to face the small group gathered to send her off. “Say goodbye to Steve for me. Bye!” She called as the doors slid closed.

“Good riddance!” Cathica muttered under her breath, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the closed lift.

“You’re talking like you’ll never see her again.” The Doctor commented, crossing his arms over his chest. “She’s only going upstairs.”

“We won’t.” Cathica revealed. “Once you go to Floor 500, you never come back.”

The Doctor, Rose and Siani all frowned at the news, not liking the sound of it. Cathica turned and walked away, the time travelling trio quickly following and catching up with her.

“Have you ever been up there?” The Doctor asked curiously.

“I can’t.” She replied bitterly. “You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to 500 except for the chosen few.”

The trio of time travellers followed Cathica into the Newsroom. The Doctor spent the entire walk peppering the journalist with question after question about the Satellite and the company that ran it. “Look, they only give us 20 minutes maintenance.” Cathica said, picking up a clipboard. “Can’t you give it a rest?” She asked in tired annoyance.

“But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?” The Doctor probed, sitting on the central chair and making himself comfortable. Rose leaned against the back of it, her arm on the headrest while Siani perched on one of the railings.

“I went to Floor 16 when I first arrived. That’s medical. That’s where I got my head done, and then I came straight here.” Cathica replied, making a few notes on her clipboard. “Satellite Five - you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That’s it, that’s all.” She said, shrugging lightly and kneeling next to one of the lower seats.

“Convenient.” Siani intoned dryly.

Cathica turned to look up at them, abruptly standing up. “You’re not Management, are you?” She asked softly in realization.

“At last! She’s clever!” the Doctor exclaimed, sarcastic and condescending.

Rose stifled a laugh behind her hand while Siani smiled sweetly in Cathica’s direction.

Cathica paused, looking between the travellers. “Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything.” She said firmly after a few seconds, turning back to her work.

“Don’t you even ask?” Siani asked curiously, following the sound of the other woman’s progress around the room.

“Well, why would I?” Cathica asked with a shrug, not pausing her maintenance sweep.

“Because you’re a journalist.” Siani replied slowly. “You’re _supposed_ to ask questions. It’s how you get to the bottom of a story.” She turned towards Rose and the Doctor. “Isn’t it? Or have things changed and I did not notice?” She asked.

“Nope. That’s what journalists are supposed to do.” The Doctor replied. He couldn’t help but notice how Siani had referred to their time travelling without actually giving it away. He turned back to Cathica. “Why’s all the crew human? He asked.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Cathica asked.

“There's no aliens on board.” He elaborated. “Why?”

“I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything.” Cathica replied uncertainly, her tone becoming less abrasive.

The Doctor looked around the room theatrically while Siani frowned in Cathica’s direction. Rose looked on, a similar, narrow-eyed expression on her features as well. “Then where are they?” The Doctor probed.

“I suppose immigration’s tightened up. It’s had to, what with all the threats.” Cathica replied, stumped at first before becoming defensive at the second statement.

“What threats?” The Doctor probed.

“I don't know, all of them. Usual stuff.” Cathica replied with a small shrug of her shoulder. “And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away... Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see.” She looked lost, continuing to give the reasons she had believed in so completely, at least until that day. Cathica paused for a moment. “Just… lots of little reasons, that's all.” She said finally, becoming defensive once again and returning to her work.

“Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn’t even notice.” The Doctor said, making the woman turn to him.

“Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it.” Cathica said, her tone holding a glimmer of smugness. “We see everything.”

“I can see better.” The Doctor countered. “This society’s the wrong shape, even the technology.”

Cathica’s hackles rose at the jibe. “It’s cutting edge!” She ground out through gritted teeth.

“It’s backwards. There’s a great big door in your head!” The Doctor pointed out. “You should’ve chucked this out years ago.”

“So, what do you think’s going on?” Rose asked, expertly preventing him from pissing off their guide any more than he already had.

“It’s not just this space station, it’s the whole attitude. It’s the way people think.” The Doctor replied with a frown. “The great and bountiful Human Empire has been stunted. Something’s holding it back.”

“And how would you know?” Cathica asked with narrowed eyes.

“Trust me - humanity's been set back about ninety years.” The Doctor said. “When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?” He asked.

“91 years ago.” Cathica replied softly.

“That certainly solves part of the mystery.” Siani stated blandly.

~*~

The Doctor stood in front of a panel of double doors that hid Satellite Five’s mainframe. Siani could hear the gentle buzz of the sonic screwdriver despite the din of whit noise that surrounded them; she and Rose stood a few feet behind the Doctor, the younger blonde watching what he was doing while the blind woman waited patiently.

“We are so going to get in trouble.” Cathica muttered keeping a lookout even though there was very minimal foot traffic passing by them. “You're not allowed to touch the mainframe. You're going to get told off.” She hissed.

“Rose, Siani, on of you tell her to button it.” The Doctor ordered over his shoulder, not looking away from what he was doing.

“You can't just vandalise the place.” Cathica hissed worriedly. “Someone's going to notice!”

The Doctor continued to blithely ignore her, pulling the door open and letting out a satisfied sound. He looked at the mare’s nest of wiring and began poking and prodding at them. Some of the wires sparked as he had his fun, Rose gently nudging Siani a few steps out of range of the sparks just to be safe.

Cathica looked at them, wringing her hands in worry. “This is nothing to do with me. I'm going back to work.” She said finally, turning around and walking away, her heels clicking with each step.

“Go on then, see you!” The Doctor called to her without looking away from what he was doing.

Cathica stopped in her tracks and threw her hands up in frustration. “I can’t just leave you, can I!” She cried, turning back to them.

“If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down. It's boiling.” Rose said in irritation. She tugged at her collar for a moment before bending down and picking up the bundle of wires that were hanging out of the cupboard. “What's wrong with this place?” She asked, turning to look at Cathica over her shoulder. “Can't they do something about it?”

“I don't know. We keep asking - something to do with the turbine.” Cathica replied, waving her hand dismissively.

“Something to do with the turbine.” The Doctor repeated mockingly.

“Well, I don’t know!” Cathica exclaimed angrily, glaring at the Time Lord’s back.

“Exactly!” The Doctor exclaimed, turning around and looking at Cathica. “I give up on you, Cathica. Look at Rose and Siani.” He gestured to the two blondes near him. “They’re asking all the right kind of questions.”

“Oh, thank you.” Rose said with a smile.

Siani ducked her head bashfully at the compliment. At the same time, she was somewhat surprised at being mentioned and also wondering what she had asked that had been noteworthy to the alien.

“Why are their no aliens on board? Why is it so hot?” The Doctor asked.

“One minute you're worried about the Empire and the next it's the central heating!” Cathica exclaimed, raising her hands in frustration.

“Poor maintenance is unforgivable.” Siani commented sagely.

The Doctor glanced at her in awe. Sensing his eyes on her, she blushed lightly and ducked her head shyly. Both the Doctor and Rose couldn’t help but notice just how _young_ she looked when she did that and were reminded that she was only 25 years old.

“Right.” The Doctor agreed. “Plumbing is very important.” He pulled at a bundle of wires. It snapped. “Oops.” He said sheepishly.

Cathica made a sharp sound of horror and distress, wringing her hands nervously once again.

Rose groaned and shook her head. “Siani, can you hack s into the mainframe?” She asked the older girl. “Like you did at the museum?”

Siani shook her head regretfully. “I’m sorry. That entire system was one that I knew, even the computers that I had used to do the hacking. This is something entirely new. If I had my laptop or PDA, I might have been able to give it a shot, by interfacing my device with the mainframe and then hacking in, but…” She trailed off with an apologetic shrug, but her point was made.

Rose sighed disappointedly. But she couldn’t help noticing that it was the first time Siani hadn’t been able to do something that she had done while in Utah. It was a stark reminder that the woman was severely disabled, because for all that Siani used her cane and their aid in moving around, she didn’t really _act_ like she was blind.

The Doctor continued working, a part of him impressed at the news of Siani having hacked into van Sttaten’s system, for whatever the reason. He knew how complicated and protected that system had been. But, like Rose, he too was vividly reminded that Siani was at a severe disadvantage when it came to their travelling. He wondered if it would be right for her to continue travelling with them, if he should extend the offer to her once their agreed one trip was over.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts when he succeeded in getting into the mainframe, jerry-rigging their access to a monitor. He pulled up the Satellite’s schematics. “Here we go.” He said, showing the screen to Cathica. “Satellite Five - pipes and plumbing. Look at the layout.”

“This is ridiculous. You’ve got access to the computer’s core. You can look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange…” Cathica said, looking at the screen. She turned back to them in confusion. “And you’re looking at pipes?” She asked in disbelief.

“But there’s something wrong.” The Doctor said leadingly.

“I suppose.” Cathica conceded slowly, turning back to the screen.

The Doctor described what was on the screen to Siani, helping her understand what was happening.

“Why? What is it?” Rose asked, looking at the schematics and not seeing the problem.

“It sounds as though the ventilation system _is_ working perfectly, but instead of channelling the cool air throughout the Satellite, it’s only channelling massive amounts of heat _down_.” Siani explained, drawing her conclusions based on what she had been told. “Is that right?” She asked.

The Doctor beamed at Siani, though she didn’t notice. “Yep.” He said, nodding. “All the way from the top.”

“Floor 500.” Rose deduced.

“Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat.” The Doctor said, nodding.

“I’m not one for parties, but it feels like we’re missing out on one we should attend.” Siani remarked. “Up for gate crashing?”

“I’m in.” Rose said, grinning eagerly and excitedly.

“You can’t.” Cathica said, shaking her head. “You need a key.”

“Key are just codes and I’ve got the codes right here.” The Doctor said, taking the monitor back from Cathica. “Here we go – override 215.9.”

“How come it’s given _you_ the code?” Cathica asked in surprise.

The Doctor looked up at the security camera mounted above them. “Someone up there likes me.” He said with a shrug.

“Or they don’t.” Siani refuted dryly. “This has all the hallmarks of a trap; I hope you realize that.”

“I know. isn’t it brilliant?” The Doctor asked, shooting her a grin as he hooked the wires back into their previous places.

“You’re completely mad.” Siani said incredulously.

The Doctor grinned at her again, closing the cupboard doors and sonicking it locked once more. “Come on. We’re got some gate crashing to do.” He said cheerfully, loosely taking Siani’s hand and giving her the option of pulling away. She didn’t; instead, she tightened her hold and interlocked their fingers.

He led the way towards the nearest lift, Rose falling into step on his other side while Cathica trailed behind them. The journalist muttered under her breath the whole way, wringing her hands nervously. The lift doors opened as soon as they approached and the Doctor, Siani and Rose walked in without hesitation.

“Come on. Come with us.” Rose said to Cathica, noticing the exotic-looking woman stop outside the lift.

“No way!” She replied adamantly, shaking her head.

“Bye!” The Doctor said cheerfully.

“Well, don't mention my name. When you get in trouble, just don't involve me.” Cathica snapped before stalking off.

“That’s her gone.” The Doctor remarked casually. “Looks like it’s just the three of us.” He said, glancing to their blondes standing on either side of him.

“Yeah.” Rose chirped cheerfully.

“Good.” The Doctor said.

“Yep.” Siani said with a grin.

The Doctor smiled at them and inserted the access card into the control panel. He took Rose’s hand and squeezed Siani’s gently as the doors slid closed and the lift began its ascent.

It took several minutes, nearly four hundred floors was a lot of distance to cover even for an advanced lift. Siani let go of the Doctor’s hand and wrapped the drape of her sari around her body, tucking the end into her waistline to keep it from becoming a hazard in case they were faced with trouble. She then began fiddling with her cane, folded and hanging from her wrist.

“Siani, you okay?” The Doctor asked, looking down at the tiny Welshwoman.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She replied a little bit too quickly. She could feel the Doctor and Rose’s disbelieving gaze on her and sighed. “Just antsy for some reason. The closer we get to Floor 500, the worse it gets, like there’s _something_ up there that shouldn’t be there.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve had this feeling on and off since we left the TARDIS, but it’s more intense now.”

“Well, we know there’s something wrong about this place.” Rose said.

“Oh, I could really use a coffee right about now.” Siani muttered, letting out a breath.

Rose laughed. “Me, too.” She agreed.

“Tea’s better.” The Doctor claimed authoritatively. Siani and Rose both looked at him incredulously as the lift came to a stop and the doors slid open. The three of them exited the lift and stopped abruptly, the Doctor and Rose looking around at their surroundings. The room was covered with ice and snow, Rose and Siani both shivering and their breaths coming out in short puffs. “The walls are not made of gold.” The Doctor said quietly, more for Siani’s sake since she wasn’t able to see their surroundings. He turned back to look at the two shivering blondes. “You both should go back downstairs.” He said.

Rose straightened her shoulders as much as she could while shivering. “Tough.” She said, stalking past him purposefully.

“Something you should know about me, Doctor – I’m not one to turn back when I’m told to.” Siani said firmly, walking past him.

_“You know me, Theta. I’m not one to turn back when I’m told to.”_ The Doctor stared at Siani’s back with wide eyes. That was almost the exact same thing _she_ had said to him so long ago. _‘What is going on?’_ He wondered. _‘Why does Siani remind me so much of_ her _? More than anyone else ever had.’_

“Feels like someone left the window open.” Siani said deadpanned, drawing the Time Lord from his thoughts.

Rose snorted softly. If Siani decided to stop travelling with them once their agreed trip was over, she would definitely miss the older woman’s ability to defuse the situation with a dry, witty comment. “I don’t suppose you’re any good at tea?” Rose asked, glancing at Siani as they walked through the room, taking in the ice and snow that covered every surface. “Duck, overhead wires.” She said quickly as she herself ducked under the mentioned overhanging.

Siani did as she was told, feeling the wires brush the back of her head as she ducked under them. “I’m decent enough, I suppose.” She replied to Rose’s question.

Rose glanced at the Doctor. “Her coffee is brilliant.” She all but gushed. “You’ve got to try it. We could do with something warm after this.” She glanced at Siani, who was walking beside her with her cane unfolded as an added measure against the icy and snowy surface. “Especially you, Siani.”

Siani smiled and nodded. She was quite used to people being protective of her, if not because of her blindness than because of her having an infant child at home.

“I’m sure there’s something in the kitchen that we can…” The Doctor began before trailing off, his attention caught by something off to the side. Rose followed his gaze and noticed fresh footprints that were certainly not theirs. “Where do you suppose that goes?” The Doctor asked, a note of challenge in his voice.

“There’s a path?” Siani asked, drawing her conclusion from his question.

“Of fresh prints.” The Doctor confirmed.

“Let’s find out where they lead.” Rose said with a grin.

The Doctor grinned and set off, Rose and Siani following behind him. Siani shuddered involuntarily, keenly aware of the utter stillness of their surroundings and unnerved by it. Rose took her hand and held it tightly, assuming that she was feeling disconcerted by their surroundings. The Doctor noticed Siani’s reaction as well as Rose’s response to it but didn’t comment on it. He had a feeling that Siani was far more sensitive to the Seen and the Unseen than even she realized, as a result of her living on the Rift for so many years. Not only was there the Rift running through Cardiff, but the city also bordered the Lost Lands, the Realm of the Fae who existed both inside time and out of it. The Time Lord was beginning to suspect that Siani may be Fae-Friend if not a Chosen One; Fae-Friends were those select individuals who weren’t Chosen Ones but were under the Fae’s protection just as the Chosen Ones were. They were those individuals who respected and loved all that surrounded them with an unrivaled ferocity, who protected others with unparalleled determination and who were aware of both the Seen and the Unseen.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when he reached a short flight of steps, a control room of sorts at the top. “Steps.” The Doctor said. “Three up and then there’s a landing. It seems to lead to the main control room, but I don’t know if there’s any more stairs.”

Siani made a sound of understanding and the Doctor climbed up the stairs. The two women climbed up behind him, the metal stairs clanging loudly signalling their approach. Rose took Siani’s hand and placed it on her shoulder, giving the blind woman space to move while making sure she wouldn’t fall behind.

“It leads straight into the control room.” Rose whispered quietly as the Doctor stopped on the landing. She and Siani stopped behind him, both just on his right, and the three of them took in their surroundings.

There was a man with pale, almost wax-like white skin, paler than even Siani’s snow-white skin tone, and white hair that nearly blended in with his face. He was wearing a sharp suit and was watching the various screens mounted on the walls. Directly beneath the screens was a row of people sitting at a long table, each of them with small screens in front of them controlled by the palm pads they each had their hands on.

As the Doctor described their surroundings to her, Siani’s sightless eyes fell on the wax-like gentleman and she shuddered lightly, unsettled by the utter _wrongness_ of his aura. She shuffled closer to the Doctor without realizing it, pressing herself against his side with a quiet whimper.

The Doctor glanced down at her, seeing her sightless gaze on the pale man and her unsettled expression. “What is it?” He asked in a quiet whisper.

“That man. His aura is wrong.” Siani whispered urgently. “Something’s very wrong.”

“I started without you.” The man said, interrupting the quiet conversation. The man chuckled lightly. “This is fascinating!” He said excitedly as the Doctor, Rose and Siani took a few steps forward. “Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire – birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements – but you three… you don't exist.” He laughed at his own words, a wheezy sort of sound that had Siani cringing and burrowing further against the Doctor’s side. The Time Lord took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly, interlocking their fingers. “Not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?” The man asked in almost genuine curiosity.

Rose looked at the people sitting at the consoles, trying to analyse what she was seeing. Each person seemed just too still, their skin tinged blue and covered with frost, as though they had been out in the cold for a very long time without moving. Her eyes widened when she noticed the woman on the far end and rushed over to her. “Suki! Suki!” She called out, crouching beside her. She grabbed Suki’s arm only to pull back immediately, startled by the ice-cold temperature of the woman’s skin. “Hello? Can you hear me? Suki?” Rose asked frantically. There was no response from the woman and Rose turned to face the man. “What have you done to her?” She demanded, looking up at him from her vantage point crouched beside Suki.

“I think she’s dead.” Siani said quietly, looking very unsettled. “I think they’re _all_ dead.” She said, running her unseeing gaze over the seated people. “Their auras show no signs of life or vitality.”

Rose frowned, looking back at Suki and her posture at the computer console. “She’s working…” Rose muttered in confusion.

"They've all got chips in their head, and the chips keep going. " The Doctor explained bitterly. “Like puppets.”

“Or zombies.” Siani half-whispered.

The Doctor made a sound of agreement.

“Oh! You're full of information!” The man said with a sound of over-exaggerated awe and amusement. “But it's only fair we get some information back,” He said, becoming serious. “Because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something.” He chuckled lightly. “Who are you?”

“Doesn't matter, ‘cause we're off. Nice to meet you.” The Doctor replied. He turned away from the pale man, guiding Siani along with him. “Come on.” He called to Rose.

Rose shot one last look at Suki and rose to her feet, turning to follow the Doctor. Suki reached out and grabbed her arm while two other ‘zombies’ grabbed the Doctor and one grabbed hold of Siani’s shoulder. The grip used to hold her wasn’t as tight as the one holding the Doctor or Rose, evidently not being seen as much of a threat because of her blindness. Siani stayed docile, allowing herself to forcibly face the wax-like gentleman and biding her time for the right moment to present itself; there were too many unknowns for her to successfully fight back.

“Tell me who you are!” The wax-like man insisted.

“Since that information’s keeping us alive, I’m hardly going to say, am I.” The Doctor retorted.

“Well, perhaps my Editor-in-Chief can convince you otherwise.” The man said, smiling at the still struggling Time Lord.

“And who’s that?” The Doctor asked.

“It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire.” The man said in a conspiratorial whisper, whom Siani was assuming to be the Editor of Satellite Five. “In fact, it's not actually human at all!” He continued with a chuckle. “It's merely a place where humans happen to live.” There was a growl and a snarl echoing around them as a creature spoke, sounding angry. “Yeah.” The man mouthed, ‘Sorry’ to the travelers as he listened to the growls, turning away slightly. “Yeah.” The Doctor and Rose exchanged confused looks, Siani sporting a similar expression on her own face, as the man turned back to them. “Sorry, it's a place where humans are _allowed_ to live by kind permission of my client.” He pointed upward, prompting the three travelers to look up as well.

Siani and Rose both let out small screams while the Doctor looked horrified.

“What is t-that?” Rose asked hesitantly.

“That’s what I’ve been sensing.” Siani said in horror. She shuddered involuntarily. “That’s what is wrong with this place.”

“You mean that thing is in charge of Satellite Five?” The Doctor asked incredulously.

“That _thing_ , as you put it, is in charge of the Human Race.” The Editor corrected. “For almost 100 years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe.” 

“That’s a bit of a mouthful.” Siani quipped.

“I call him ‘Max’.” The Editor stage-whispered, grinning at the unseeing woman. He snapped his fingers and a few zombies came up to the travellers with a set of connected, hefty manacles, attached to a wired device.

Hearing the sound of the manacles being dragged across the icy floor and deducing what was going to happen, Siani unfolded her cane and brought it down sharply against her captor’s side. There was no reaction, not even the reflexive loosening of the man’s grip. Siani’s unseeing eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, yeah. They’re dead.” She breathed in remembrance, cursing herself for forgetting and giving away her trump card as another zombie joined the first and held her tightly.

“I don’t understand.” Rose said in confusion. “Why didn’t he release you when you hit him? Shouldn’t it have been reflexive or something?”

“They have no control of their muscles.” Siani explained.

“Precisely.” The Editor confirmed. “Nice try, though.” He added. “I never would have suspected that you knew how to fight, what with your _disability_.” He said delicately. Siani raised an eyebrow at the phrasing but didn’t respond to it. “The chip can lock them like that, keeping the grip tight.” The Editor continued the explanation, reaching out and taking Siani’s cane, tossing it aside. It clattered against the iced floor and rolled away, out of Siani’s telekinetic range - she needed to know where it was, at least the general area and any obstacles in her path, in order to be able to draw it back to her.

Rose glared at him as she was shoved, none too gently, towards the Doctor and Siani. The zombies locked them into the manacles, keeping the travellers’ arms bent with their hands by their shoulders.

“How did you manage this?” Siani asked curiously. “Unless… of course.” She breathed in realization. “You created a climate of fear.” She concluded. “Doing so would make it easy to keep the borders closed. With the borders closed, there is no new information being brought in except for what is provided by you.”

“Exactly! It’s just a matter of emphasis.” The Editor said cheerfully. “The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote.”

“So all the people on Earth are like, slaves.” Rose guessed.

“Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?” The Editor asked philosophically.

“Yes.” The Doctor and Siani replied in deadpan unison, Rose nodding in agreement.

“Oh.” The Editor said with a slight pout. “I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? ‘Yes’?” He asked.

“Yes.” The pair replied again, in deadpan unison and glaring at him fiercely.

The Editor chuckled lightly. “You’re no fun.” He said.

“Let me out of these manacles. You’ll find out how much fun I am.” The Doctor growled, his hands clenched.

“Oh, he’s tough, isn’t he?” The Editor remarked to Siani and Rose, though his intermittent giggles showed just how little he thought of the Time Lord. “But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit.” He said.

“You can’t have something on this scale, somebody must have noticed.” Rose argued logically.

“From time to time, someone, yes” The Editor conceded, walking away from them. “But the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt,” He spun on his heel, his hand raised, “and crush it.” He finished, clenching his hand into a fist. A nasty, cruel smile crossed his pale white face.

“And those who can’t be convinced are ‘promoted’.” Siani added.

“Precisely.” The Editor confirmed. “And the rest just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're _so_ individual, when of course, they're _not_ \- they're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing.” The Editor commented with a shrug.

“And what about you?” Rose asked. “You’re not a Jagra, uh, err, belly…” Rose stumbled over the pronunciation.

“Jagrafess.” Siani supplied helpfully before the Doctor could.

“Jagrafess.” Rose repeated. “You’re not a Jagrafess. You’re _human_.”

“Well, simply being human doesn’t pay very well.” The Editor snarked, sneering.

“But you couldn’t have done this all on your own.” Rose pointed out,

“No!” The Editor said with a chuckle. “I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to, um,” he lowered his voice to a whisper as he finished his sentence, “install himself.”

“No wonder, a creature that size.” The Doctor said, glancing up. “What's his life span?” He asked in a slightly raised voice.

“3000 years.” The Editor replied.

“That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool - it stays alive.” The Doctor stated.

“And Satellite Five becomes one great big life support system.” Siani finished dryly.

“But that's why you're so dangerous.” The Editor said, pointing to the Doctor in particular. “Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you?” He asked again.

All three travellers remained stubbornly silent. The Editor sighed and snapped his fingers. Electrical energy surged through the manacles; it was sharp and piercing, like thousands of white-hot needles stabbed everywhere, into every pore, every inch of skin. All three gritted their teeth, adamantly refusing to give into the pain and give their sadistic captor the satisfaction of their screams.

Suddenly, the energy stopped abruptly, and the three travellers were left reeling. Each of them panted for breath, sweat beading their foreheads despite the frigid temperature of the room. Despite the energy no longer piercing through them, the ache still lingered.

“The thing about those manacles,” The Editor began, picking up a remote and holding it loosely in his hand. “Is that even though they’re connected… they’re not.” He imparted. “If I hit this button,” He paused for a moment and pressed the mentioned button. The lights on Siani’s cuffs glowed a deep blue, the only warning she had before the electrical energy danced over her, her entire body tensing at the currents. “The blind girl gets it.” The Editor added needlessly. Siani gritted her teeth, refusing to let out a sound of her pain. “Ooh, not quite as delicate as she appears, is she?” The Editor commented with a sadistic grin. “But, it actually has another setting, too – the level of pain. The one she’s on is a four. What about moving it up to six?” He didn’t wait for a response; of which he only got a rather fierce glare from the blind girl he was actively torturing while the Doctor and Rose struggled against their bonds. He turned the dial on the remote and the still dancing energy currents increased in number and frequency.

Still, Siani refused to make a sound, clenching her hands and gritting her teeth, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. For several long seconds, the only sound was the energy currents dancing over her body until it stopped suddenly. Siani gasped for air, reeling from the pain. Sweat poured down her face despite the frigid temperature of the room, several strands of her hair coming loose from her bun and clinging to her cheeks and neck.

“I must say, I’m impressed.” The Editor remarked casually, running his pale, icy gaze over Siani’s body. He lingered over the expanse of her stomach and arms not covered by her sari and her heaving chest as she panted for breath. “Not many people, actually no one, has ever been able to keep quiet at that level. But, what if I dial it up to an eight?” He wondered aloud, his free hand hovering over the control.

“Leave her alone! Please!” The Doctor cried out, unable to bear watching the sweet young woman experience the pain again. “I’m the Doctor, she’s Siani Jones and that’s Rose Tyler! We’re nothing, we’re just wandering!” He cried desperately, rushing to get the words out. Anything to prevent Siani from having to go through that pain again.

“Tell me who you are!” The Editor roared.

“He just said, you piece of shit!” Rose snapped angrily, glaring at their captor.

“Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us?” The Editor pressed.

“We’re just travelling!” The Doctor cried.

“Liar!” The Editor shouted. "How does the eighth level sound?” He asked, pressing the activation button and turning the dial.

At the sudden return of the electrical currents and the increased level, Siani wasn’t able to hold back her cries of pain. They soon turned to screams that echoed over the walls, tears streaming down her face, mixing with the sheen of sweat that covered her. She clenched her hands tightly, her manicured nails digging into the tender skin of her palms, breaking the thin layer and drawing blood as she thrashed and kicked about reflexively.

“Still no response?” The Editor asked calmly. He turned the dial again and the blue lights on Siani’s cuffs turned red, the currents increasing in frequency and number once again. The Editor had turned the level to the highest one possible – ten.

“Please, stop it!” Rose screamed, tears streaming down her face. “Please! Siani!”

Siani’s screams slowed as did her thrashing, but more because her vocal cords and her body was tiring. If it hadn’t been for the manacles holding her twitching body up, she would have been slumped on the ice-covered floor.

“Please stop!” The Doctor screamed desperately. Siani wasn’t going to last much longer and he knew it. “I’m a Time Lord! The girls are from the 21st Century! No one knows about you! No one sent us! We’re just travelling, I swear!” He blurted out desperately.

“Time Lord?” The Editor repeated disbelievingly, looking at the Doctor. “They died out when the Last Time War ended.” Nonetheless, he turned off the machine.

“Siani!” Rose cried desperately.

Siani coughed weakly; she was pale, clammy and panting for breath. The fabric of her clothes stuck to her body as did her hair that had come entirely undone from her thrashing, the pins she had used to hold the thick locks scattered across the ice-covered floor. “I’m okay.” The blind girl gasped weakly, offering an equally weak smile in the direction of Rose’s voice.

“I’m the last.” The Doctor explained desperately. “I escaped in my TARDIS and now I just travel.”

The Editor stalked forward and stopped in front of Siani. He ran his ice-cold hand over her sweaty and clammy cheek, as though she were a child or a pet. Siani turned away from him weakly, grimacing at the feel of his touch against her skin. “A Time Lord and his little human girlfriend from long ago.” He taunted. He turned to Rose. “And this is her sister, I suppose. Yes, I can see the resemblance.” He commented, inspecting both blonde girls. “And they really _are_ from the 21st Century! That would mean… yes, you must have a time machine.” The Editor concluded, turning back to the Doctor. “You have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you know, what you’ve seen in your TARDIS.”

“You’ll never get your hands on it.” The Doctor growled, his gut clenching at the though of this cruel and greedy man getting his hands on the TARDIS. Even still, seeing the consequence, he could bring himself to regret revealing everything to try and save Siani; the blind girl was still panting, though not as heavily anymore. “I’ll die first.” The Doctor declared.

“Die all you like.” The Editor said, shrugging nonchalantly. “I don’t need you, any of you. I’ve got the key.” The Doctor and Rose could only watch in horror as the key floated out of the young Londoner’s pocket and dangled in front of them. “Today, we are the headlines.” The Editor said, spreading his arms victoriously. “We can rewrite history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing.”

“Where is the key?” Siani asked Rose urgently in a whisper.

“Right in front of us.” Rose replied in the same whisper.

Siani frowned in concentration, slowly and inconspicuously drawing the key towards Rose.

“And no one’s going to stop you because you’ve bred a Human Race that doesn't bother to ask questions.” The Doctor said with a sneer, drawing the Editor’s attention to him; he had noticed the side conversation between Rose and Siani and guessed that the blind girl was going to try and use one of her powers. He just needed to keep the Editor occupied. At the same time, he hoped that Cathica, who was lingering in the shadows, could understand what he was trying to say. “Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughterhouse if they're told it's made of gold.” He spat, looking past the Editor and catching Cathica’s gaze.

The exotic-looking woman met his gaze, a determined look crossing her face. She turned and strode off purposefully, her head held high and her shoulders back.

Siani gritted her teeth, sweat pouring down her face as she concentrated on the key. The task took more effort than ever because she was severely weakened from her previous torture, but she continued, slowly but surely bringing it closer to Rose.

“Almost.” Rose whispered, the key now only inches away from her.

“I don’t think so!” The Editor snapped, whipping around to look at the key dangling in front of Rose. He noticed Siani’s expression, the concentrated frown and guessed that she was the one moving it. “You are really far more than you seem, aren’t you?” The Editor asked, chuckling in amusement. He pressed the activation button on the remote and the lights on Siani’s cuffs turned red as the electrical energy danced over her body, the level still at ten from the previous time.

Siani screamed in agony, her concentration broken and the key clattering to the ground. Her body twitched reflexively, still not having the energy to thrash like it previously had.

“Siani!” The Doctor and Rose shouted in unison, struggling fruitlessly against their bonds.

An alarm sounded, blaring through the room and drowning out Siani’s agonized screams.

The Editor turned to zombies working at the console. “What’s happening?” He questioned two of them. “Someone’s disengaged the safety.” He snapped his fingers and an image appeared on the hollo-monitor – Cathica, sitting in the broadcast chair as the beam of compressed information streamed into her mind. “Who’s that?” He asked indignantly.

“That’s Cathica.” Rose breathed in surprise.

“And she’s thinking.” The Doctor added. Between them, Siani moaned, the currents still dancing over her twitching body. “She’s using what she knows!”

“Terminate her access.” The Editor told Suki frantically.

“Everything I’ve told her about Satellite Five.” The Doctor explained. “The pipes, the filters-she’s reversing it. Look at that!” He gestured to the icicles hanging around the room, all of them melting. “It’s getting hot.”

“I _said_ ‘terminate her’!” The Editor growled to Suki. He put the remote down on the console, unintentionally turning off the electrical surge dispensed by the manacles. The Editor covered Suki’s hands with his own, taking over control of the computer. “Burn out her mind.” He growled.

_“Oh, no you don’t.” Cathica growled on the screen. “You should have promoted me years back!” She declared, curling one hand into a fist and slamming it purposefully against the armrest._

The massive monitors on the screen beeped insistently in warning before sparking, the consoles on the table below exploding in a shower of sparks. The Editor was thrown back from the force of it while the dead operators collapsed against the table, completely lifeless as though their strings had been cut. The entire station quaked, the alarms blaring, and the monitors’ beeping became more and more insistent. Rose’s manacles came loose and she slipped out of them, the entire station shuddering and sending the lifeless corpses to the floor.

Rose picked up the TARDIS key and pocketed it before it could get lost in the chaos. The Jagrafess roared angrily as the Editor frantically tried, and failed, to get the operators to sit upright.

“What’s happening?” Siani asked weakly, leaning heavily against her manacles, the only thing keeping her upright.

“She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano.” The Doctor explained.

A few feet away, the Editor frantically tried to convey the situation to the Jagrafess, trying to rationalize why he couldn’t stop it. By the sound of the creature’s responding garbled noises, resembling shrieks and growls, he didn’t seem too impressed with the Editor.

Rose ignored him in favor of turning to the Doctor and rummaging through his jacket pockets. She pulled out the sonic screwdriver and held it gingerly. “W-what do I do?” She asked frantically. The Jagrafess roared and snapped menacingly at them.

“Flick the switch!” The Doctor replied loudly so he could be heard over the chaos.

Rose flicked the switch and the screwdriver buzzed to life. She aimed the screwdriver at the manacles holding the Doctor, jumping slightly when a nearby explosion startled her. For a few tense seconds, there was only the sound of the alarms blaring through the Satellite and the angry roars of the Jagrafess above them. Rose managed to get the cuffs loose enough for the Doctor to slip out of them before turning to Siani.

The Welshwoman’s head lolled against her shoulders; her energy completely spent. Rose frantically worked on undoing the cuffs, the Doctor holding his arms out and ready to catch Siani as soon as she was free.

“Oi, mate, want to bank on a certainty?” The Doctor called over his shoulder to the Editor, who looked at him. Rose managed to unlock one manacle and began working on the second. “Massive heat in a massive body – massive bang.” The second cuff unlocked and Siani slumped forwards, the Doctor catching her before she could hit the floor. “See you in the headlines!” The Doctor called, sweeping the barely conscious Welshwoman into his arms.

He turned on his heel and ran out of the room. Rose followed suit, pausing long enough to grab Siani’s cane when she saw it by one of the chairs. She quickly caught up with the Doctor and they ran across Floor 500, avoiding the massive chunks of ice and snow that fell around them, the Doctor hunched protectively over Siani. They ran into the Floor 500 Newsroom Cathica was in and found her sitting on the broadcast chair, her eyes closed with a peaceful expression on her face and her portal open.

“Close the portal.” The Doctor told Rose, unable to do so himself because he was carrying Siani.

Rose nodded and snapped her fingers. As the portal closed, Cathica opened her eyes and looked at the travellers. Her expression became concerned when she saw Siani in the Doctor’s arms.

“She’ll be okay.” The Time Lord said before Cathica could ask, seeing where her gaze had gone. “She just needs some rest.”

Cathica nodded. Rose held out her hand and Cathica took it, allowing the blonde to help her off the broadcast chair.

“Come on.” The Doctor said, turning on his heel and running out of the room.

Cathica and Rose followed after him, all three of them continuing until they reached the lift before stopping. Cathica called the lift and when the doors opened, she set the level for Floor 139, taking them back down.

~*~

Dawn rose over Mother Earth below while on the Satellite, the Doctor sat beside Siani who was leaning tiredly against him, across from Cathica in the canteen. Rose leaned casually against the table, watching the people all around them helping each other, the able-bodied ones helping those that needed it. The past few hours had been spent providing first aid to the injured and though everyone was confused to what had happened, there was an almost unified effort across the Satellite to help each other.

“We’re just going to go. I hate tidying up. Too many questions.” The Doctor said, turning to Cathica. “You’ll manage.” He added reassuringly when Cathica made a sound of protest. He had spent the past few hours answering the Journalist’s questions, explaining everything to her while Siani rested, dozing as she leaned against him, her long, golden hair hanging loosely down her back.

“You'll have to stay and explain it.” Cathica insisted. “No one's going to believe me.”

“Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now.” The Doctor reassured her. “The Human Race should accelerate. All back to normal.”

Cathica sighed and nodded. The Doctor got to his feet, carefully lifting Siani into his arms and holding her protectively, as though she were something precious. She was much better than she had been, still tired, but with the colour once again returning to her cheeks. She needed more rest and plenty of food and drink but would be back on her feet within a few days. For the moment though, the Doctor had refused to let her walk on her own and insisted on carrying her until she was recovered. Rose laughed lightly at Siani’s protests, as had Cathica, both women advising the blind Welshwoman to just go with it, that not many women can say they had their own personal Doctor who would willingly carry them everywhere. Siani rolled her large, expressive jewel-coloured eyes at the comment but let it go, accepting the assistance with a sweet smile and a soft ‘thank you’.

“Bye, Cathica.” Siani said with a sweet smile, waving in the direction of Cathica’s voice. “Good luck.”

“Bye.” Cathica responded. “And I’m sorry for being rude to you earlier.” She added sincerely.

Siani cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean?” She asked innocently, not having a clue what the Journalist was talking about.

“Never mind.” Cathica said, shaking her head and laughing lightly. She turned to Rose. “Bye and thank you, for everything.”

“Bye.” Rose said, pulling the taller woman in for a brief hug before letting go and stepping back.

The Doctor smiled at Cathica before turning on his heel and walking back to the TARDIS. Rose followed behind him, Siani’s cane swinging from her wrist as she whistled softly. Reaching the magnificent blue box, Rose opened the door with her key and went inside, holding the door open for the Doctor.

Her mobile rang just as she was closing the door behind the Time Lord. “Hello?” Rose said, answering her mobile.

_“Hi, is this Rose?”_ A female voice asked from the other end in a distinctly American accent. _“Siani Jones’ friend?”_

“Yes.” Rose replied, nodding as the Doctor gently set Siani down on the jump seat.

_“It’s Meghan, her live-in nanny/ RN. Can you give her the phone, please? It’s important.”_ Meghan said urgently.

“Yeah, sure. here she is.” Rose replied, walking to the jump seat. “Siani, Meghan’s on the line. She wants to talk to you. Says it’s important.” Rose said, putting the mobile in the blind girl’s hand.

Siani frowned in confusion, a glimmer of fear on her face as she held the phone up to her ear. “Hello? Meghan?” She said nervously. “What’s wrong?”

_“It’s Rhia; the good day's become bad. She’s been taken to the hospital.”_ Meghan said without preamble. _“You need to come home, now. It’s bad. Really bad.”_ Siani’s unseeing eyes widened and the mobile slipped from her suddenly slack fingers. _“Siani! Siani!”_ Meghan called through the mobile when there was no response.

Rose quickly caught the mobile before it could hit the ground, the Doctor watching in concern from where he was standing by the console, piloting them into the Vortex. “Meghan, it’s Rose.” The blonde Londoner said briskly, moving to stand beside the Doctor and putting the mobile on speaker. “What happened? Siani’s become completely still and not reacting.”

_“Listen, wherever you guys are, you need to bring her home immediately.”_ Meghan said. _“It’s Rhia, she’s been taken to the hospital. The doctors all say that she doesn’t have much time left and Siani needs to be here.”_

Rose looked at the Doctor and he nodded in response to her silent question. “We’re on our way.” Rose said before ending the call.

The Doctor flipped a lever and sent them hurtling through the Vortex. Rose moved back to Siani and sat next to her, putting her arm around the older girl comfortingly.

_Links:_

_*Siani sari -_ [ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879479510663/_](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879479510663/)

_**Siani’s bangles are the same as the previous episode, except in a different color (forest green)_

_**Siani’s earrings are the same as the previous episode, except in a different color (forest green)_

_**Siani’s hairstyle is the same bun as the previous episode_

_*Siani’s bindi is the same as the previous episode, except in a different color (forest green)_

_*Siani’s shoes are the same as the previous episode, except in a different color (forest green)_


	4. Interlude: A Sorrowful Awakening

_Notes: Carwyn looks like Logan Lerman (except much younger since he’s a baby currently)._

**Interlude: A Sorrowful Awakening**

_October, 2012_

_Utah, USA, Earth_

The TARDIS materialized with the typical wheezing in a small, secluded corner, just down the street from Siani’s home in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“We’ve landed.” The Doctor said to Siani. He barely finished his statement when the blind woman shot to her feet. Immediately, she swayed where she stood, still disoriented and woozy from what she had been through in 200 000. The Doctor and Rose shot forward, both catching Siani by the arms before she could hit the floor. “Easy, you need to take it easy for a few days.” The Doctor chided gently. He turned to Rose. “Listen, in the kitchen, there’s a first aid kit. Bring it.”

“Why do we need a first aid kit?” Siani asked weakly.

“I’m gonna bandage your ankle to make it look like you had sprained it.” The Doctor replied. “You had said while we were in flight that you weren’t sure you wanted to tell your sister about the travelling, so we need a reason why I’m carrying you.”

Rose nodded in understanding and ran out of the console room. Siani sighed and just leaned against the Doctor, letting him put his arm around her supportively. “How long has it been since Meghan called us?” Siani asked.

“About an hour.” The Doctor replied. “I landed us down the street from your house.”

Siani nodded as Rose ran back into the console room. “Got it!” The blonde Londoner said, skidding to a stop in front of the jump seat.

The Doctor took it from her and knelt in front of Siani, taking her left high heeled foot and putting it on his knee. With one hand on the hem of her sari, he looked up at her. “May I?” He asked respectfully.

Siani nodded silently in response. The Doctor lifted the sari a few inches and carefully slid the back strap of her sandal off before removing it completely. Rooting through the first aid kit, he pulled out a roll of elastic bandage and, keeping up a stream of chatter explaining what he was doing, proceeded to wrap Siani’s ankle tenderly, as though she really did have a physical injury.

Rose, meanwhile, called Meghan back and spoke with her to find out where Rhiannon was, whether she was at the hospital or at home. She told Meghan that they were near and wanted to know where they should go (not a complete lie since they were parked down the street). Rose also informed the other woman of Siani’s ‘injury’ and the Doctor’s ‘diagnosis’ which was to stay off the leg for a few days and to rest. Rose also added that the rest period was more of a precaution than anything else. They quickly wrapped up the call before Rose cut the line and pocketed the mobile.

“Rhia’s been brought home.” The blonde Londoner said softly. “Meghan said she’s opted for ‘in-home’ palliative care.”

“From the beginning, she had said she wanted to be at home when she died, not in a hospital or a hospice surrounded by machines and the sterile, clinical scents.” Siani said, nodding. “It had been granted because the coordinating hospice is only a few blocks away and we have a Registered Nurse living with us who was qualified to care for Rhia.” She accepted the Doctor’s hand and pulled herself onto her feet, trying to find her balance with the wrapping around one ankle and her heeled shoe on the other foot.

“Ready to go?” The Doctor asked, packing up the first aid kit while keeping an eye on the blind Welshwoman.

Siani bit her lip, torn between wanting to run away so she wouldn’t face what she knew was her sister’s last moments and wanting to be there for the woman who had always been there for her. “Yes.” She said finally, letting out a heavy sigh.

The Doctor nodded. “Okay.” He said. “Let’s go.” He went to Siani and swept her into his arms, earning a surprised shriek from the woman. The Doctor smiled, his plan of distracting Siani working, at least, for the moment.

Rose laughed lightly in the background, grabbing Siani’s cane and handing it to the blind woman before the three of them left the magnificent blue box and into the midday sun. The Doctor and Rose looked around the completely ordinary street, filled with mismatched yet rather elegant looking houses, neatly manicured lawns, flowerbeds and trees and the occasional driveway with a car still parked. For the most part, the street was devoid of life, most of the residence at work or at school seeing as it was the middle of the week. Siani told them her house number and the Doctor headed towards it, noting that it was the only one that had cars filling the driveway and the road in front of it.

“There are so many cars.” Rose commented. “Does that mean…?” She trailed off uncertainly.

“Not necessarily.” Siani said optimistically though the Doctor quickened his pace. “They’re all neighbours and acquaintances, seeing as most of my family’s dead except for Rhia and Carwyn.” She shrugged. “Most of them are only here so they can say that they were ‘there for me’.” Siani said, heavily implying the air quotes on the last few words. “Fair warning, both of you may be asked a lot of questions about how we met and what we had been doing the past two days.”

“Let me guess, it’ll be the ‘concerned’, elderly women doing most of the asking?” Rose asked, only partly rhetorically as she rolled her hazel-coloured eyes.

“Yep.” Siani chirped, nodding. “They’ve always had their opinions on me, be it my blindness, my adopting Carwyn, the way I work too much and a bunch of other things.”

“We just ignore them and stick to our story – the three of us met when Rose and I stopped at the museum during a road trip and when we learned of it being shut down and the owner’s disappearance, we offered Siani a lift.” The Doctor said softly as they approached the house. “It’s best if we avoided talking too much about it, keeping it as vague as possible. Deal?”

“Deal.” Siani said.

“Deal.” Rose said, nodding.

Rose and the Doctor stopped in front of the house and looked up at it. It was a modest, Victorian style 2-storey home with a stone pathway leading from the street up to the front steps and a disconnected stone path going from the steps to the driveway; the driveway actually led to the backyard where there was a 2-door garage, separated from the main house. The front lawn wasn’t of grass, but of wood chips with a medium-sized, neatly maintained shrubbery near the road*.

“Come on.” Siani urged upon realizing that they hadn’t moved.

The Doctor nodded and resumed walking, heading up the front path with Rose beside them. Reaching the front door, Siani opened it, allowing them entry into her home.

~*~

Siani sat in Rhia’s room, the sun beginning its descent over the horizon outside her window. It had been several hours since she had returned home with the Doctor and Rose earlier that day and the Welshwoman was now dressed in a black sari with a short-sleeved black blouse*. Rhia passed away barely an hour after Siani entered the house, using her last moments to tell the younger woman something very important; it was the reason the blind girl was now sitting in her sister’s empty room, playing with her locket watch that she had never really noticed until that day.

_“Open the locket, when you are home. It will give you the answers you do not know you seek. And remember, chwaer bach, no matter what, no matter where, no matter when, you are loved.”_

The funeral had been a relatively quick affair as had the wake, passing smoothly without any trouble and it being a weekday thankfully prompting the guests to not overstay their welcome. Everyone gave their condolences and offered words of comfort and their support, promising to stop by regularly to check on her and Carwyn. Siani graciously accepted the offers but revealed that she was going to be leaving the United States once her affairs were in order, saying that she no longer had a reason to stay seeing as she no longer worked at van Statten’s museum. The news was met with surprise but also resigned acceptance as Siani had been clear from the very beginning that she had only moved to the US for her job and for the opportunities it offered Rhia.

As Siani had predicted, the Doctor and Rose had been subject to a number of questions on who they were and how they knew the Welshwoman. The Doctor revealed his name to be ‘John Smith’ and that he was a medical doctor from the UK while Rose was his friend’s daughter whom he was travelling with. It wasn’t a complete lie as the Doctor had become friends of sorts with Pete Tyler during the fiasco in 1987; the Time Lord had found himself respecting the human man over the course of the time they were stuck in the church, the feeling growing after seeing Pete give his life to save the world despite knowing that it would mean he would never see his daughter grow up to be the woman he met.

Siani sighed, the weight of the locket in her hands bringing her back to the present. She could hear the Doctor and Rose working together downstairs to clean up now that the guests had all left. Meghan was also gone, having left shortly after Rhia died in order to complete the paperwork that would allow Siani to make the necessary funeral arrangements as well as her contract being ended with the older woman’s death. She had returned for the funeral and the wake, genuinely wanting to be there for the bereaved young woman, but had left a short while after the last of the guests had gone.

Siani ran her hands over it, feeling the swirling pattern on the back and finding the concealed dial on the side. She pressed the dial curiously and the locket opened, releasing an endless stream of gold energy that poured into her.

~*~

The Doctor multi-tasked between rocking a wide awake Carwyn, whom he was holding in the crook of his elbow, swaddled in his blanket with a small cap on his head, and wiping the surfaces of the kitchen with his other hand. The 3-month old infant had very fair skin, dark brown-black hair and when he had opened his eyes after his nap, they were revealed to be a bright, aqua blue colour. The Time Lord kept up a stream of chatter with the baby, telling an incredulous Rose that he spoke Baby and could very well understand what was being said to him. While Rose believed him, she continued to shoot him incredulous looks as she washed the last of the many dishes that had been used over the course of the afternoon – she and the Doctor had taken turns on who did each batch because there were so many.

Suddenly, the Doctor broke off his conversation with the baby in mid-sentence with a startled gasp. He shot his head upwards, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at the ceiling.

“Doctor?” Rose called worriedly.

“That’s impossible.” The Doctor breathed, unaware of the dishcloth dropping from his slackened fingers or Rose calling out to him. Carwyn whimpered at the change in the emotions that surrounded him, and the Doctor immediately reacted, turning back to the baby and rocking him soothingly. “It’s okay, Carwyn. Nothing’s wrong.” He said reassuringly. “I was just shocked, that’s all.” The Doctor glanced back up at the ceiling for a moment before turning back to Rose, the blonde girl looking at him worriedly. “It’s okay. I’m okay.” He reassured her, putting a bright grin on his face. 

Rose looked at him disbelievingly, but let it drop. The Doctor gently put Carwyn in his soft grey and white cradle swing, buckling the straps and switched it on, allowing gentle music to fill the air.

“Theta.” A voice he had long missed and never imagined he would hear again echoed in his mind.

The Doctor spun around, his eyes wide in shock and disbelief as he faced the speaker. He could feel the gentle hum at the back of his mind, a feeling he had missed since that terrible day he had done the unthinkable to end an unending war.

There, standing in front of him was Siani, except not at the same time. She looked the same, with her long golden hair free from its pins and cascading down her back, her snow white skin flawless and fair face free of any makeup and adornments aside from powder, a line of kohl along her waterline and the black bindi between her eyebrows. However, there was also a deep sorrow in her unseeing eyes, a sorrow that wasn’t just from losing Rhia. It was sorrow mixed with pain and anguish, a blend of emotion that mirrored the Doctor’s own, one borne of having lost their people, their home and their planet.

No longer was she Siani Gwawr Jones. In the Welshwoman’s place stood The Belle of Gallifrey, known as The Converging Wave and The Herald of Dreams.

She walked up to the Doctor, absently noticing Rose watching with a confused frown. Belle stopped in front of the Doctor, barely a foot of space between them.

‘Whack!’

The Doctor’s face whipped to the side from the force of the slap, Belle’s expression filled with unriddled fury as she glared at him unseeingly. Rose’s jaw dropped in shock at the blind woman’s uncharacteristic action, stunned into complete silence.

“You know what that was for.” Belle hissed furiously, glaring up at the Time Lord.

“I still pressed the button.” He said softly, his voice filled with regret, guilt and self-loathing.

“Doctor, I was the one that made it.” She reminded him. “You know what they had been planning, you know what the consequence would have been if you hadn’t done what you did.”

The Doctor smiled weakly. “Thank the Goddess that you’re alive.” He breathed, pulling her into a tight hug that she returned with equal vigour. For several seconds, they remained in their tight embrace, oblivious to anything but each other and just revelling in the other’s presence, both physical and mental. Finally, he pulled back, looking completely confused. “But hang on, how are you here?” He asked with a frown.

“Tad sent me through the Untempered Schism right after Arcadia fell.” Belle replied softly.

“And the Chameleon Arc?” The Doctor asked curiously. “How did you survive if you had been human?”

“It was on a time-delay.” Belle replied. “He pushed me through, and it activated once I had landed. Unfortunately, Tad didn’t have the chance to program it with a backstory, so I ended up as an amnesiac.”

The Doctor nodded in understanding. “Which one is this?” He asked, almost nervous to know that answer.

“9th, same as you.” Belle replied. “It happened earlier that day.”

“What’s going on?” Rose asked, drawing their attention and looking between them in complete confusion.

“Rose, I know this is more than a bit confusing, but my name is Belle.” Belle introduced herself. “I’m from the same planet as the Doctor. During the War, my father sent me to Earth in an effort to protect me, turning me human for my own safety.”

Rose nodded slowly, remembering the bits and pieces the Doctor had told her about the Time War. “But are you okay?” She asked in concern. “From what the Editor had done in 200 000?”

“I’m absolutely fine.” Belle replied honestly. “The process of reawakening healed the residual effects I had been feeling.”

Rose looked at Belle with a narrow-eyed gaze, trying to see if the other woman was lying about her condition. But there was nothing that the blonde Londoner could find that indicated deceit – there was no sign of the minute tremors that had riddled the older woman’s body, no sign of the fine sheen of sweat on her face, no sign of the tiredness and weakness in her features. Belle looked healthier than ever. “Okay.” Rose said finally, nodding in acceptance. “I guess this is ‘Welcome Back’, then.” She added with a light laugh.

“Yes, it is.” Belle replied, she and the Doctor also laughing. Carwyn cooed happily, blowing raspberries into the air. “Yes, _baban._ Mammy’s here.” She said, moving towards the cradle swing and lifted her infant son up, settling him in the crook of her arms.

“I take it you speak Baby as well?” Rose asked, partly disbelieving and partly incredulous.

“Yes, I do.” Belle replied with a grin, turning to the direction of the younger blonde’s voice. “However, this little one also communicates Telepathically.”

Rose’s eyes widened in surprise, her jaw dropping. “He does what?” She asked numbly.

The Doctor chuckled. “Carwyn isn’t human.” He explained; he had realized it the moment he saw the baby and recognized him for who he really was. “He’s an Enirian. I thought they had died out in the early days of the War, but it would seem Carwyn had slipped through the Rift and landed here on Earth.”

“Wow.” Rose breathed in a mix of amazement and sadness. “I know you mentioned how devastating the War had been, it’s also kind of implied, but I never imagined that it could be so bad that a baby is all that remains of an entire Race of people.” She said softly, gently taking Carwyn’s hand with her index finger. The infant curled his tiny digits around Rose’s larger one, holding with a deceptively strong grip. “He’s so strong.” She breathed with wonder.

“Thank you.” A lilting voice echoed in Rose’s mind.

Rose’s eyes widened and she looked at Carwyn in shock. “He just-. But that-” She stammered, looking between the baby and the Doctor and Belle. “He just spoke to me! In my mind!” Rose exclaimed.

“Is it okay?” The Doctor asked worriedly, remembering the blonde’s reaction to the TARDIS’ translation matrix.

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Rose replied hurriedly, guessing where the Doctor’s thoughts had gone. “It was just a bit of a shock, is all.”

“Okay.” The Doctor said, nodding. He turned to Belle. “Will you come with us?” He asked. “Both you and Carwyn?”

“Yes.” Belle replied without hesitation. “The two of us and Beauty are all there is of our world. And I'm not going anywhere without my son.”

“I’m sorry, ‘Beauty’?” Rose repeated in confusion.

“It’s what the TARDIS is called.” Belle replied. “Her name.”

“Rather, the name Belle had given her.” The Doctor added, grinning at Belle.

“She’s never argued against it.” Belle quipped in a very self-satisfied tone.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and decided not to argue. “Anything you want to take with you?” He asked, changing the subject. “We can pack everything up while you set your affairs in order and put the house on the market.”

“Sounds good.” Belle replied, carefully putting a dozing Carwyn back into his cradle swing. “We need to take Carwyn’s things - his clothes, the baby equipment and all the diapers we have in the house. There are a few things of my own that I want to take, as memoirs. But other than that, I can’t think of anything else.” She said. “Doctor, you can bring Beauty inside, park her in the hallway so we’re not carrying everything to the end of the road. Rose, can you help him take the baby equipment into the TARDIS? I’ll pack our belongings in the meantime.” Belle said, easily and swiftly taking charge of what needed to be done.

“Sure.” Rose said, nodding.

“I’ll be right back.” The Doctor said as his own agreeing response before he turned and headed out of the kitchen and then the house completely.

Rose and Belle worked in unison to finish cleaning the kitchen and by the time they were done, 15 minutes later, they could hear the whooshing sound of the TARDIS materializing in the hallway. As soon as it fully rematerialized and the Doctor stepped out, he and Rose proceeded to carry out the task Belle had asked of them. Belle meanwhile went back upstairs and worked on sorting through her belongings as well as Carwyn’s and Rhia’s, making piles of what she wanted to take and what was good to be given away to the local Thrift Shop.

The three of them worked for the next several hours, taking breaks to eat whenever Carwyn woke up for his feeding. The infant would feed, play for a little while before falling back to sleep, still too young to stay awake for very long and the more he slept, the better it was for him (and for the adults as it allowed them to get more work done).

Finally, by the time they were done, and Belle had taken the last of the items she wanted to keep into the TARDIS and had finished the seemingly endless amount of paperwork she needed to take care of, the dawn sun was rising over the horizon and filtering in through the windows. All three of them yawned tiredly as they entered the TARDIS, each of them wanting nothing more than to sleep for a couple of hours, even the Time Lord and Time Lady who didn’t need nearly as much sleep as humans or babies did.

The Doctor went up to the console and began working the controls while Belle and Rose tiredly slumped onto the jump seat. Carwyn was in his cradle swing, attached to the ceiling and the floor of the console room as opposed to being left as a portable device. The Doctor flipped the lever and sent them hurtling into the Vortex, unable to help the grin that crossed his face despite his tiredness as he looked at Belle.

The Belle and the Doctor of Gallifrey, were in the TARDIS once again. The Converging Wave and the Oncoming Storm were travelling through Time and Space as they once had so long ago together, together with her son and his Companion.

_Links:_

_*_ _Siani’s home -_[ _https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1029-E-1st-Ave-Salt-Lake-City-UT-84103/12721475_zpid/_](https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1029-E-1st-Ave-Salt-Lake-City-UT-84103/12721475_zpid/)

_*_ _Siani’s saree (black) -_[ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/346073552587507673/_](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/346073552587507673/)

_*Carwyn’s cradle swing (soft grey and white) -_ [ _https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879487272893/_](https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/474566879487272893/)


End file.
